


Civilians

by LadyRa



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-21
Updated: 2013-08-21
Packaged: 2017-12-24 04:44:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 46,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/935513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyRa/pseuds/LadyRa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU ending to Point of View.  What if the AU Samantha hadn't been willing to let go of Jack?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Civilians

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know that the other reality's Samantha didn't seem this unstable, even if she did have that weird low self-esteem conversation with our Sam. Work with me.   
> 

Jack could see his Carter watching them through the mirror. Despite the fact that this was now the second universe that had the two of them together, Jack couldn't wrap his mind around it. Even when he tried to go there, he couldn't. It was like his mind had some Carter and him relationship repellent. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Not that he was averse to the idea of a relationship in general. In fact, he wanted one. Wanted to sleep next to someone he loved at night. Wanted to have someone to cook dinner with, and do chores around the house with.

The problem was that the only people he ever hung out with were his team, and, well, they were his team. And there was no better way to fuck up a team than to start sleeping with one of them. He'd heard enough war stories on the subject to keep him from making the same mistake. So, Carter? No. Teal'c? No. Daniel? Mostly no.

Definitely no. No one on his team. No and no. It was just that if he _had_ to choose one of them to play house with, for some reason, he would choose Daniel. Maybe it was because the guy spent so much time at his house anyway. He was surprisingly easy to be around when they weren't at work.

At work, not so much--lots of yelling and arguing going on regularly, but once they were off the mountain, that all went away. Then it was all guy stuff. Eating, watching TV, shooting some hoops, doing nothing. It worked.

"This is hard," Carter said, interrupting his thoughts. "Goodbye for a second time." 

Jack glanced at her, telling himself this was Samantha, not Carter. And what was it with her hair? Gah. "It's the first time," Jack countered. He felt a keen need to remind her that he wasn't her husband.

"It doesn't feel that way to me. You have to understand, my Jack had the same face, same voice…same hands."

Oy. Never in a million years. "Which brings to mind an obvious question. How could you marry such a loser?" he asked, wanting to lighten the mood. He chose to ignore the slightly obsessed gleam in her eye. Just a few more seconds and he'd be back home, and he and Daniel could go eat pizza and watch a game.

Samantha laughed, but Jack could see she didn't mean it. Laughing on the outside, crying on the inside. He felt bad for her, but that's where it ended.

"Thank you," Samantha said to someone.

Jack looked up to see that she was speaking to Teal'c and Daniel. He'd forgotten they were there for a second. 

"You're welcome," Daniel assured her with his usual sincerity.

With a silent gesture, Jack told Daniel and Teal'c to step on through the mirror. They stood side by side as they touched the mirror and disappeared, only to reappear on the other side. Jack felt like he was two steps closer to home.

He stared at Samantha, trying to figure out what to say to get this over with. But, before he could come up with something, she reached up and kissed him. Jack decided he could do this for a few seconds. It wasn't exactly killing him.

She finally pulled away. "You're really not him, are you?" she said, sadly.

"No." Jack took a step toward the mirror, starting a silent countdown.

"I just wish…"

"Yep." _Me, too_ , he said silently. _I wish I was home_. He took another step.

"I can't," she cried.

_Please don't cry_ , he begged silently. _Don't make me deal with tears_.

"I can't let you go. I can't lose you again."

Jack had nothing to tell her. Nothing to give her. "Sorry. I really am, but I have to go home." He reached out to touch the mirror, seeing the zat in her hand a second too late. As the energy blast hit him, he tried to reach the mirror, but his fingers fell short as his knees hit the floor hard. Then he was flat on his belly, and out for the count.

* * *

Daniel waited a moment too long to react. He blamed it on disbelief. He couldn't believe that the mirror Sam had zatted Jack and was now pointing the zat at them.

It wasn't until the zat blast shot through the mirror that he finally believed it, but by then he was crumpling to the ground, along with his teammates. 

When he snapped out of the zat-induced oblivion, Daniel had no idea how long it had been, but the mirror was a flat matte surface. His mind was in shock as he stared at it, unwilling to accept that his Jack was on the other side of it under the control of a clearly unstable Samantha Carter.

He tried to console himself with the thought that the other versions of Kawalsky and Hammond had seemed comfortingly familiar. Surely they wouldn't let the other Sam get away with this. 

Daniel shook his head, clearing away the last of the fog. He turned toward Sam and Teal'c, saw that they were still out. He stumbled to his feet, found the intercom and called for medical assistance. He had no idea why he'd woken up first; usually Teal'c recovered faster than all of them. Maybe because he'd been a little to the side, causing the shot to glance off of him, while hitting his teammates dead on.

Daniel noticed the remote on the floor. He hadn't realized he'd taken it with him. Grabbing it, he used it to turn the mirror on. He started flipping through universes, looking for the one they'd just returned from. 

He'd find it, go through, grab Jack, and bring him back. Simple. In fact, it sounded like one of Jack's plans. That was assuming Sam wasn't still there armed with a zat or something deadlier, or that she hadn't blown up the mirror. Fear slithered down Daniel's spine. 

Jack stuck in another reality where Daniel couldn't get to him wasn't something he cared to consider. He'd known Jack three years longer than he'd known Sha're, and they'd been through some amazing adventures together. In many ways they were closer than he and Sha're had ever been, even though he and Sha're had lived together as husband and wife. Daniel had survived the loss of Sha're. He wasn't sure he'd survive losing Jack.

He heard Sam and Teal'c stir next to him and could hear footsteps quickly heading their way down the hallway. He flipped to the next reality. There. That looked like the one.

The problem was that they all looked so much alike. When he'd been looking earlier, he'd almost leapt through until he'd seen that the Sam there had been a captain instead of a major. Looking closer, though, he was reasonably sure this was the one. 

Daniel knew the sensible thing to do would be to wait for the medical team to get there. To wait for Sam and Teal'c to recover. To pull a rescue team together and go through with armed guards capable of handling a crazed Samantha Carter.

But Daniel felt a shadow cross his grave, felt time slipping through his fingers and, before he could think it through or be talked out of it, he reached for the mirror, coming out the other side.

Looking back, he saw his Sam shoot him a confused look segueing to consternation. Daniel couldn't hear her, but he could see her lips mouth his name, beckoning him home.

It was tempting. But he shook his head, pointing toward the closed door, indicating that he was going to find Jack.

Sam shook her head, waving him back.

That was when Daniel noticed the C4. And a timer. Counting down. Ten-nine-eight-…

"Crap," Daniel said, his eyes flashing apologetically to Sam, his finger hitting the remote, closing the connection to keep the explosion from blasting through on their side as well. Then he was turning, running for the door, knowing he wouldn't get far enough in time. He got the door open and was around the corner and about ten feet down the hall when it blew. The wall exploded out, debris flying in every direction, including right at him, knocking him to the floor, stealing his breath. Then something hit the back of his head and everything went painfully black.

* * *

Jack's head hurt. He squinted his eyes in an effort to force them open. When he saw Hammond standing there, he felt a surge of hope. When he saw Kawalsky standing behind the General, he said, "Fuck. I was hoping I dreamed that." He struggled to sit up, and Hammond moved to his side to hike up the head of the gurney.

Once he was settled, Jack waited for an explanation. When none was forthcoming he started feeling sick to his stomach. "General. What's going on?"

"I'm not quite sure how to tell you this," Hammond started, then stopped.

"My team? Are they safe?" That was the most important thing.

Hammond's lips tightened. "I'm not sure. She destroyed the mirror."

"What?" Jack sputtered, his stomach really churning now.

"I had no idea she was that unstable, Colonel," Hammond tried to apologize. "I knew she was grieving, but…" He shook his head.

Kawalsky stepped in. "She used C-4. I heard the explosion and ran to investigate, thinking we were being invaded again. Smoke was pouring out of the room where we had the mirror. The frame is still there; after all, it's made of Naquadah, a little C4 isn't going to do squat to it, but the middle part's gone. Just a big hole."

Jack did not want to be hearing this. Did not want to draw the only conclusion all those words meant. 

Kawalsky flashed him a sickly grin. "Look on the bright side. I'm still alive here."

Anger swamped Jack. "Where the fuck is she?"

"I have her under guard," Hammond said. "As soon as I can I'll have her put under a psychiatrist's care."

"How nice for her," Jack snapped. "Meanwhile, I'm apparently stuck in a world that's not my own, while my life is back on the other side of the mirror."

"I know that, Colonel," Hammond said apologetically, and implacably. "And if I could fix things, I would, but we don't have another mirror. I wouldn't even know where to start to look for another, and to be honest, I can't spare the resources on a wild goose chase. Every able-bodied soldier will be needed to piece this world back together from the Goa'uld attack." He hesitated. "There's more."

Jack couldn't imagine what more there could be. Jesus. "What?" he said unkindly, even as he knew this Hammond didn't deserve it. He'd been dead just a short time ago. His world had been attacked and most of his staff was dead. He took a deep breath, wishing Daniel was here with him. Then just as quickly decided he was glad he wasn't. He was swamped with sadness at the thought of never seeing his friend again.

"Your Daniel Jackson came through the mirror after you."

It took a second for the words to percolate through Jack's brain. His eyebrows went up. "Daniel's here?" Sadness changed to relief in a flash, even as he was sorry that Daniel was now stuck here as well. But at least they'd be together. "Where is he?"

When the general didn't answer, Jack frowned, snapping out, "Where is he?"

"He was hurt," Hammond finally admitted. "He was caught in the explosion."

"Hurt as in hurt? Or hurt as in dead?" Jack demanded.

"He's alive," Hammond said cautiously, "but he's unconscious."

Jack kept waiting for the rest of it. When that seemed to be all Hammond had to say on the subject, he said, beyond exasperated, "Am I missing something? Is he just unconscious? Is he brain dead? Does he have all his arms and legs, ten fingers and ten toes?"

Kawalsky pulled back a curtain from a cubicle a few yards away, revealing Daniel lying on a gurney, looking bruised and scratched, but relatively in one piece.

Managing to restrain himself from getting up and crawling into bed with Daniel, just to feel the warmth of his skin and reassure himself that he wasn't in this alone, he lifted his hands in a 'what gives' sort of motion. "What aren't you saying? Just spit it out for God's sake."

Hammond did, saying gruffly, "Jack, as far as we know, the Daniel Jackson of our reality is still alive. Most of our computers aren't working, but we were able to ascertain that as of a few days ago, he was on a dig in Abydos, Egypt. It wasn't one of the cities that was hit by the Goa'uld, so there's no reason to think he's not alive."

It took Jack a minute to connect the dots. Then he remembered Carter's face as she got that tremor thing, looking like she was literally being shaken apart. Remembered her announcement that she had forty-eight hours before it would kill her. "Fuck." Daniel might be here and alive, but he might not stay that way for long. "Can we go to another planet?" he asked. "Is he safer if he's farther away?"

Kawalsky shook his head. "Samantha said it's worse the closer you are to your double, but that the tremors are gonna happen no matter what. Going somewhere else will only postpone it a few days."

Jack was suddenly so angry he had to close his eyes and grit his teeth to keep the words inside. Finally, he managed to say, "I want to be alone for a while. With Daniel."

"What about Charlie?" Kawalsky asked out of the blue. 

"Charlie who?" Jack asked. Then his eyes opened wide. "Charlie? My son Charlie?"

"Yeah," Kawalsky said slowly as if Jack were an idiot. "Your son. This all happened so fast, he doesn't even know you're dead, I mean," he stumbled, "the other you."

"He's alive here?"

Kawalsky winced, responding sympathetically, "Yeah, he's fine. He's dead where you come from?"

Jack nodded, his mind whirling. Charlie alive? That would make him eleven. Wait. "Was I married to Sara?" Maybe this was a different son, maybe his and Carter's. His face screwed up at the thought. 

Kawalsky nodded. "Yeah." His face was screaming that there was more to tell.

"What aren't you telling me?" Jack was sick of the ominous pauses. He wished these people would just say whatever the fuck they had to say. He'd never been the slowly-inch-the-bandaid-off kind of guy.

Kawalsky sighed. "Charlie accidentally shot her with your gun when he was eight."

While sad for the Sara of this reality, Jack's heart ached for Charlie. He couldn't imagine how devastating that must have been for his son. "Sara's dead here, then?" 

Kawalsky nodded again. "She was DOA when she got to the hospital. Then two years later you met Samantha, and you guys just clicked."

Jack didn't give a shit about that part of it. He only needed two things. Daniel conscious, and then he needed to see Charlie. "Who's with him now?"

"Samantha called and asked a neighbor to watch him the last couple of days." Kawalsky glanced at his watch. 

"The world's freaking ending and you guys have a neighbor watching him?" Jack couldn't conceive of it. And maybe it was a little hypocritical, but at least Sara had always been around when Jack was gone. "You can take me to him?" He wasn't really asking permission. This wasn't his world; Hammond wasn't his boss. Technically, he was a civilian, but a civilian who might need some serious favors and this wasn't the time to burn bridges. He promised himself he could burn as many as he wanted later--huge freaking bonfires.

After getting a gesture of permission from Hammond, Kawalsky agreed. "I'll be around when you want to go." 

"Can I get you anything else?" Hammond asked solicitously.

"Yeah, get me a divorce," Jack said bitingly.

With a sad nod, Hammond headed for the door, followed by Kawalsky. Jack watched the door close behind them. Wishing his headache gone, he gingerly sat on the edge of his gurney, feeling like his head might fall off his body when he tried to stand up. All the Alice-through-the-looking-glass conversations hadn't helped. 

He noticed that there were no medical people at all and wondered who the hell was taking care of Daniel. Someone was; he had an IV. Sadly he considered that everyone he might know here was dead. Janet, Warner, all of them. Jack sternly reminded himself that they weren't his people. The only one here who really counted was Daniel. 

Hoping this Janet kept her aspirin stash in the same place his Janet did, Jack moved to a cupboard and opened it up. Letting out a sound of satisfaction, he reached for the aspirin, worked the top off, and tapped four into his hand. Then he tapped out four more for Daniel for when he woke up.

Not sure the tap water was safe given the Goa'uld attack, he opened the small refrigerator, pulling out a four ounce plastic container of orange juice. In seconds, his four aspirin were history.

Next, Jack headed for Daniel. 

Staring down at his friend, his eyes sweeping across his face and chest, taking note of scratches and bruises, a couple covered up by bandages, Jack had so many conflicting thoughts and emotions, they made the pain of his headache pale in comparison.

Frantic relief that Daniel was on this side of the destroyed quantum mirror. Anger that Daniel had risked himself by coming after Jack. Fear for Daniel's life. Cold determination that if it came down to this reality's Daniel's life versus Jack's Daniel's life, that he'd put a bullet through the other Daniel in a New York minute. Apprehension that his Daniel would never let him do any such thing, although Jack wasn't sure it would stop him. He sure as hell wasn't going to sit by and watch Daniel shake to death.

And behind all his emotions regarding Daniel was a joyous disbelieving mental shout: "Charlie's alive! My son is alive!"

Jack closed his eyes, trying to pull himself together. When he opened them again, Daniel was staring up at him, a small furrow between his brow. "It's giving me a headache watching you think," Daniel said softly. "Are we that screwed?"

Jack snorted out a sharp laugh. "I think your headache is due to the fact that you got caught in an explosion, but yes, we are that screwed."

Daniel looked himself over. "Am I all here?"

Nodding, Jack said, "Ten fingers and ten toes. The problem is that there might be a little too much of you."

Daniel thought about that for a minute, and then his mouth opened and a soft, "Ah," came out. "I'm alive here?"

Jack shrugged. "They're not sure. He was in Abydos and that wasn't a city hit by the Goa'uld."

"How badly damaged is this world?"

"Hard to say," Jack answered. "I haven't asked a lot of questions, but I'm hearing rumors. Sounds like some major cities were hit bad, but other areas didn't even know anything was going on until the story broke."  


"So, parts of the world are grieving while in other parts it's business as usual?" Daniel asked with a sad smile.

Nodding, Jack added, "I haven't been outside yet to see how bad a hit Colorado Springs took. I'm guessing it's just the mountain."

"Sam?"

"Under guard," Jack said bitingly, "waiting to see a psychiatrist. I guess a couple of sessions with McKenzie will make it all better."

"Hmm," Daniel said, wincing as he tried to move his arm. "Ow." He attempted to sit up.

Jack got an arm around his shoulders to assist and, once Daniel was sitting, lifted the head of the gurney to keep him up. "Better?"

Daniel nodded. "So, I'm not really hurt?"

"There aren't a lot of medical people to ask, but Hammond seemed to think you were just a little black and blue. Why?" he asked anxiously, not prepared to deal with massive internal bleeding, "do you feel like you're hurt bad?" 

"No," Daniel said, stretching his arms and legs gingerly. "I'm just achy."

"What were you thinking?" Jack found himself saying, deciding to share some of his frustration with his friend. "Why the hell did you come back through?"

"I saw her zat you, Jack," Daniel said in an are-you-really-this-stupid tone. "Was I just supposed to watch her kidnap you and not intervene?"

Jack frowned at the thought of Daniel _ever_ not intervening when something bad was going down. Jack might have a few less grey hairs, though, if Daniel occasionally thought things through before jumping in. "Did she zat you guys, too?"

Daniel nodded. "I think I only caught the edge of the zat blast, because I woke up before Teal'c. He and Sam were just waking up when I jumped through." He smiled wryly. "It wasn't until I was on this side that I saw she'd rigged the mirror to blow. I shut down the mirror and ran for it."

"Good thing you're a sprinter," Jack said dryly. 

"So, what happens now?"

"Charlie's alive," Jack blurted out.

"Charlie Kawalsky?" Daniel asked. When Jack shook his head, Daniel's eyebrows rose high. "Charlie? Your Charlie? Your son? He's alive?"

Jack nodded.

Daniel smiled so sweetly at him it made Jack's throat full. "You need to go see him."

"I will. I wanted to make sure you were all right."

Daniel touched Jack's arm. "I'm fine. Go. Jesus, Jack. Go."

"Come with me."

"You sure? I don't mind waiting here. I could go talk to Sam. Or maybe try to contact Thor, see if he has a way to get us back home."

"Come with me," Jack said again. He wanted Daniel there. He wanted Charlie and Daniel to meet, because if they were stuck here, the three of them would be family. "Then we can try to talk to Thor, and fast, because we have to find out if you're alive here."

"It doesn't matter if we do things fast or not. If I'm alive here, I'm screwed either way." Daniel said. He swung his legs to the side. "Got any aspirin?"

Jack held out the aspirin he'd been clutching in his hand. "Here." They were a little the worse for wear but Daniel took them without a word. Jack walked to the small refrigerator and pulled out an orange juice for Daniel, which he used to promptly swallow them down.

"I've always wished I'd had a chance to meet him," Daniel said, as he stood up slowly. 

"He wasn't raised by me," Jack cautioned him.

"He will be now," Daniel said with surety.

"Yeah," Jack said, glad that Daniel was on the same page as he was. "He will be now." 

* * *

Jack watched the world go by as Kawalsky drove him and Daniel to this reality's version of his home. "Lucky the Goa'uld didn't do too much damage here," he observed. If it wasn't for the unusual amount of dust in the air, and if you didn't look behind you at where a mountain used to be, you could fool yourself into thinking it was just a hazy day.

"They'd only just landed on Cheyenne Mountain when you guys came through the mirror," Kawalsky noted.

Jack stared out the window, bemused at how ordinary things looked. There were people gathered, talking, worried, glancing at the sky, but the houses were untouched, the flower beds unsullied.

"Don't be too angry with her, Jack," Kawalsky said, out of the blue. "You don't know how much she loved you. You two were good together."

"It wasn't me, Kawalsky," Jack clarified. "It was some dead guy. And I'm sorry because I know he was your best friend, but it wasn't me." He glanced at Daniel who was sitting behind Kawalsky in the back seat.

Daniel asked, "Where else did they hit? What cities?"

"New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, Paris, Rome, Cairo, Moscow." Kawalsky thought for a moment. "Maybe a few others. Tokyo. All the most populated areas."

"Did they trash the cities or just go in and take people?" Jack asked.

"Both. It's too soon to know who they took because the cities are so ripped up, but I'm sure they took whoever could fit on their ships. After that, they did their best to kill whoever they ran into," Kawalsky said, his eyes dark with pain. "It was bad, Jack. We weren't prepared for a direct attack like that. There were too few of us who knew what was going on to do anything about it. The worst of it is that we knew there were people, our people, on those ships, and all we could do was watch as they blew up."

"That doesn't sound like Thor," Daniel said. "Are you sure he didn't beam them somewhere?" He edged up until he was closer to the front seat. "Thor seemed to regard life pretty highly."

"You think he might have done that?" Kawalsky asked hopefully. "Jesus, I can't believe this has all just taken a couple of days. It feels like months have already gone by. I guess there could be a stadium full of people somewhere, and we just haven't found out about it."

"Don't beat yourself up so bad," Jack advised him. "You did manage to save your world from being completely destroyed."

"Samantha did that," Kawalsky corrected him. "And you guys did that. I was just along for the ride."

Jack bit back the nasty words he wanted to say. Okay, she got points for saving the world, but it didn't give her the right to take his world away from him. 

"Did you love the Samantha in your own reality?" Kawalsky asked.

"Not like that. And she'd have never done anything this monumentally insane," Jack couldn't help adding. 

"I'm not trying to make light of the situation, Jack, and I get that you're angry, but maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe you could love her and come work with us. No one except us knows he's dead. You could just take his place."

Jack shot him a disbelieving look. "You mean sort of like: 'lie back and think of England'?"

That got a crooked smile out of Kawalsky. "I'm just saying that you're stuck here, you know? Sooner or later you'll need to accept that. At least you're in a world that's similar to yours. It's not like you're stuck on some planet where everyone's got three eyes and five legs and drinks antifreeze."

"Kawalsky, I get where you're going, but it's way too soon to have this conversation. Right now, I'm pissed as shit. Your Carter just took my entire life away from me because she's nuts. She needs to be put away somewhere with padded walls and locked doors. I don't ever plan to trust her as far as I could throw her, which right now, I would gladly do, into a wall, hard." His eyes met Daniel's, pleased that Daniel wasn't adding his two cents in and backing up Kawalsky in a typical Daniel forgive-and-move-on scenario.

"That's not gonna happen," Kawalsky said pragmatically. "She's too damn smart. We need her."

Jack supposed that was true enough. If she could function, they'd keep her around. All that meant was that Jack wasn't going to be anywhere near Cheyenne Mountain. He grunted at Kawalsky, needing this conversation to be over. All he wanted right now was to see his son. 

Charlie. Alive. Jack still couldn't believe it.

Kawalsky took a left into a housing development that was so cutesy it made Jack want to puke. He'd never have agreed to live here. It made him wonder what kind of man he'd been here. Pussy whipped, it looked like.

Daniel obviously agreed, as he said in disgusted wonder, "You lived here?" 

When Kawalsky pulled into a driveway, Jack, with a quick look at Daniel who said, "Go," with an emphatic hand gesture and a smile, was out of the car running for the house. 

"Charlie? Charlie?" he yelled out. This is how his nightmares always started. Coming home and yelling for Charlie, only to find him dead in any one of a thousand ways. If this was another nightmare, Jack swore he'd never go to sleep again. 

But then he heard his son's voice. "Dad?" Charlie was there, opening the front door. "Dad?" And Jack was holding him hard enough to hurt, one hand behind his head, the other around his back, and he was holding his son, and it was like a fucking miracle. 

The arms coming back around him were hesitant at first, but then Charlie sort of sagged against him and held on for dear life. Jack had never felt anything as wonderful in his life. As many times as he'd imagined it, this was better. He'd have given up everything he had to hold his son again.

With a start, he realized he had. He glanced up through tear-filled eyes to find Daniel watching them with a teary grin of his own. 

Kawalsky stood behind him, smiling. "See, Jack?" Kawalsky said. "Maybe it won't be so bad."

Despite the young boy in his arms, Jack had no intention of giving in gracefully. "Thanks for the ride, Kawalsky. Go away now."

"Uh, Hammond told me to stick with you," Kawalsky said apologetically.

"I don't work for Hammond and I don't want an audience." Then, he added, "Daniel doesn't count."

"Jack, you're a security risk," his old friend said bluntly.

Jack pressed a kiss on Charlie's head and then pulled back, keeping an arm around his son's shoulders. "What?" he asked incredulously. "Are you afraid I'm gonna let it slip that there are aliens out there? Newsflash, Kawalsky, everyone within spitting distance of anything electronic knows that. I'm thinking there are maybe a few indigenous tribes around the world who don't know that aliens attacked Earth, but you could probably count them on one hand."

"You still can't--"

Laughing harshly, Jack snapped, "Go away, Kawalsky. Last time I'm asking. I don't answer to Hammond. I don't answer to anyone on this world. Everyone at the mountain and up to the President is going to be busy doing damage control for the next ten years, trying to explain why you knew about the Goa'uld for as long as you did and kept it a secret. Good luck. You're gonna need it." 

They were damn lucky this hadn't happened to their own world; it would have if it hadn't been for Daniel. Jack glanced again at Daniel who was staring at Charlie.

Charlie was staring back, even as he had a death grip on Jack.

"Hey," Daniel said. "I'm Daniel. I'm a friend of, um, your dad's."

Charlie smiled shyly at him. "Hey," he said back.

Kawalsky groaned. "I can't go back without you. Hammond will have my hide." 

"Dad?" There was a tug on his sleeve. "What's going on?"

Jack looked down into his son's face. So much the same, but he could see the three year's time difference. A little older, a little less baby fat. Jack could have stood there all day drinking him in.

"Are the aliens gone?" Charlie asked nervously. "I saw them on T.V."

"The bad ones are," Jack assured him. "Did they show the good guys, too?"

"Yeah," Charlie said in amazement. "Little gray guys?"

"That's them. They're the Asgard. They'll be protecting this planet from now on." 

"So, we're safe?" 

"We're safe." He glanced up at Kawalsky. "Leave. Or don't," he offered. "Feel free to stay in the car. I'll be right here with Daniel and my son. All I need from you and the General is a chance to talk to Thor and see if he can help us out. If he can't, and if Hammond won't spare the resources to help me find another mirror then I'm retiring. I'm out. You guys can deal with the public relations nightmare that's gonna be hitting you between the eyes without me." 

"Jack…"

"You don't get to do this to me," Jack said angrily. "You don't get to fuck me over, and then do it again. If this is my life now, then leave me to it." 

Charlie was staring at him and Jack realized he'd said fuck. Shit. "Pretend I didn't say that," he said to his son.

Charlie grinned at him, although his eyes were confused. Jack wasn't surprised. "Come on," he said, including Daniel in the invitation, "let's go inside."

His son seemed to think that was a good idea as he turned in the doorway and headed inside, pulling Jack behind him. Jack dragged Daniel in behind him, leaving Kawalsky standing on the front lawn. Jack reached around Daniel to shut the door.

Once inside, Jack took a good look around the place where he lived, wincing. He would never have guessed Carter was harboring such a frilly inner decorator. The T.V. was on and he sat on the couch next to Charlie to watch the news.

"Maybe I should, um, you know, let you two catch up," Daniel offered.

"Sit," Jack said. He didn't want either Daniel or Charlie out of his sight.

Daniel sat, eyes on the television set as well.

There was a jarring dissonance to the coverage, a juxtaposition of ebullient celebration accompanied by horror and carnage. Dead bodies lay everywhere, though thankfully the cameras panned over them quickly. Even though there were plenty left standing, many buildings had been shattered with blasts from the Goa'uld ships. Political pundits were demanding retaliation, and every spiritual leader in the world was putting their own spin on events, either praying for their continued safety, or speaking of the devil. People were weeping, laughing, angry, praying, yelling, and hugging their families, both alive and dead. It was a schizophrenic panorama of images. 

"I thought you were dead," Charlie said, moving closer. "They showed the big pyramid ship thingy landing on top of Cheyenne Mountain. I thought you were dead."

He is, Jack thought. But now it was Jack's turn. "Sorry," he said, wrapping his arm around Charlie's shoulder, pulling him in close. "I got here as soon as I could."

"Where's Samantha?" his son asked cautiously.

In a holding cell. "Still at the mountain," was what Jack said out loud. He was either going to have to tell the truth or do a lot of lying. And he really didn't want to start off this second chance with his son with a passel of lies. But he also didn't want Charlie to turn away from him. Maybe he could find a place somewhere in between. Of course, if Charlie had been paying attention to the argument Jack had had with Kawalsky outside he'd already said enough to get his son wondering.

"Good," Charlie said in a trying-to-hide-it-but-failing-spectacularly snide tone.

Jack's eyebrows rose, guessing there was some trouble in paradise. "You trying to tell me Carter's not your favorite person?" he dangled as bait.

The scornful snort he received was clear answer.

"She won't be coming back," Jack told Charlie. "We're done."

"For real?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"For real." Jack glanced around the house. "And we're sure as hell not staying here." 

Daniel glanced around the house, too, a look of amused dismay on his face.

His son looked like he'd gotten ten Christmas's worth of presents at one time. "I hate this house."

"Yeah, me, too." And Jack had only been there five minutes.

They went back to the television. New York was still in reasonable shape, as were many of the other cities that had been hit, but Los Angeles and Tokyo were disasters because of the earthquakes the blasts had triggered. Rome had done all right. The Vatican and St. Peter's were amazingly untouched, and just that alone would be enough to get Italy through this.

"I thought you hated me," Charlie suddenly said in a small voice.

"What?" Jack asked, astonished. "Why would I hate you?"

Charlie didn't say anything, just sniffed.

"Charlie, talk to me. Why would I hate you?"

"Cuz of mom," Charlie said hesitantly. "You've barely talked to me since it happened, like you couldn't stand to be in the same room with me."

Jack wanted to horsewhip his other self. "It was an accident." He turned to face Charlie full on. "It was an accident. And if I made you feel bad about that, I'm sorry. That was a really shitty thing for me to do."

"So you don't hate me?"

"No, Charlie, I love you more than anything. I'd die inside if anything happened to you." That was the literal truth. He'd come so close to killing himself.

"I'm sorry I killed her." Charlie's face crumpled up and tears started rolling down his face.

Jack reached for Charlie and held him close. "Oh, Charlie, it's all right. Bad things happen. I'm just so sorry it happened to you." He couldn't imagine what Charlie had been going through after that, especially if his counterpart had held Charlie accountable for the death, blaming him and clearly never forgiving him. He held his son tightly and rocked him, letting his boy weep in his arms. 

He met Daniel's eyes as he held Charlie, and drew some strength from the affection and concern he saw there in Daniel's bright eyes. A part of him wished Daniel would hold him as he held Charlie, but just having him there was enough.

* * *

Charlie cried himself to sleep and, reluctantly, as he would have liked to hold him indefinitely, Jack laid him down on the couch and tucked him in with a throw. He moved to the coffee table and watched him breathe. Every breath was a miracle to him. Even the hitched ones, the sniffly ones, every single fucking one. Breathing in, breathing out. Alive.

Daniel sat down next to him and put a hand on Jack's shoulder. It was an unusually demonstrative gesture from Daniel, and Jack appreciated it. In fact, he appreciated it so much he leaned into Daniel, wanting more of it. 

Daniel encouraged Jack to lean against him with a friendly sound and wrapped his arm firmly around Jack's shoulders.

"How can things be so fucked up and so amazing at the same time?" Jack asked softly.

Daniel rested his forehead against Jack's temple without making a comment.

Jack didn't blame him. There wasn't anything to say. 

"So what now?" Daniel asked.

"First off, I need to try to contact this reality's Thor, see if he can zap us home or take us to another quantum mirror."

"And if he can, we take Charlie with us?"

Jack nodded. Although how that would work was beyond him at the moment. What would he say to Sara? For that matter, what would he say to Charlie? How do you explain a son come back from the dead? He didn’t think he could stay on SG-1 with a son at home, not now that he'd gotten him back. Too many things could go wrong on missions, and he wasn't about to leave Charlie without a dad, not if he could help it. 

Of course, things could go wrong here, as well. Jack didn't want to believe it, but Hammond, and those above him, could make things difficult. And Jack didn't even want to think about what he'd do if the other Daniel was still alive. To Daniel he said, "See if I have a computer. Maybe you can start tracking down your counterpart, figure out if he's alive."

Daniel nodded but didn't move. "In a minute."

They didn't really have a minute, but Jack wasn't in any hurry to leave the comfort of Daniel's embrace. "Are you going to tell him?" Daniel asked softly, his breath tickling Jack's ear.

"That I'm not really his dad?" Jack said just as softly. He felt Daniel nod. Jack sighed. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think you need to," Daniel offered. "I think it won't take long for him to figure out that something's off, and it'll be better coming from you."

"Where do I start? How do I even begin to explain it?" Jack asked. He glanced at his watch and frowned when he saw what time it was. He mentally subtracted and figured they'd been on this Earth about six hours, including all the rescuing stuff. "What time is it here anyway?"

Daniel checked his watch, rolled his eyes as he realized the futility of that, and looked around. He pointed at a clock on the fireplace mantel. "Ten a.m." 

The time was going by much too fast. "Shit," was all he could think of saying. 

"Jack," Daniel said, bringing his attention back. "At least he's prepared for crazy explanations. His whole life view has been turned on its ear, along with everyone else. Start with the aliens, with what you do for a living, and take it from there."

"I think you should do it," Jack stated. "You're so much better at this stuff than I am." 

Daniel hesitated.   
  
"Come on," Jack entreated. "There's gotta be something I can bribe you with. Books? Coffee?"

Daniel let out a disapproving sigh. "Jack." Then, his eyes grew calculating. "Actually, yes, you can bribe me with something. You can promise me you won't kill the Daniel of this reality." 

Jack stiffened in Daniel's hold. Shit. Sometimes it sucked that Daniel knew him so well. "Not making that promise, Danny, sorry."

"I can't just let you murder someone," Daniel protested.

"Well, I can't just sit here and watch you die, either." The moment of relaxation blasted to smithereens, Jack stood, pulling away from Daniel. "How the hell am I supposed to survive without you?" 

Daniel's eyes opened wide at the question.

Oops. That question didn't exactly hide how much Jack cared for Daniel. Well, fuck it. They'd always been close even if they hadn't talked about it much. 

"Dad?" a voice from the couch said.

"Hey, buddy," Jack said, slowly turning from Daniel. He sat on the couch by Charlie's hip. 

Charlie sniffed, deeply enough to make some seriously disgusting noise. Jack grinned at him. "You ever hear of these things called tissues?"

"Dad," complained Charlie, scowling.

"Daniel really likes them," Jack added.

"Jack," Daniel said in the same bitchy tone of voice.

There was a knock on the door.

Jack looked at Daniel who looked right back. By unspoken agreement, Daniel was the one who headed for the door. He peeked through the peephole and then opened the door. Kawalsky stuck his head in. "The General just called. Thor's at the mountain."

"That's my cue," Jack said, standing up. 

"Are you leaving?" Charlie asked uncertainly, and not without a certain amount of fear in his voice.

"Yeah, but you're coming with me," Jack said. "Us," gesturing toward Daniel.

"Jack," Kawalsky warned.

Jack was getting that a lot. Angrily, he said, "If you think I'm letting him out of my sight, you're out of your mind. Daniel can keep him in an unsecured part of the mountain, or what's left of the mountain, but they're both coming with me."

Kawalsky looked like he wanted to argue some more, but instead he just shrugged. 

Still looking uncertain, Charlie stood, but his hand snuck inside of Jack's, and Jack tightened his fingers around Charlie's. "When we're done doing the couple of things I need to get done," Jack said to his son, "we'll sit down and I'll explain everything, okay?"

Charlie nodded, using his free hand to wipe his nose.

"Gross," Jack complained.

This time Charlie grinned up at him.

"Jack," Daniel started, "why don't you go with Major Kawalsky, and I'll pack a bag for you and Charlie. We can get a cab to the mountain. Just leave word at the gate to let us in."

Frowning, Jack said, "I'd rather you guys were with me."

"I know, but Thor might be able to just send us to Egypt, and a change of clothes would be good. Or, if it would make you more comfortable, take Charlie, and I'll get a cab on my own."

"I got a better idea," Jack said. To Kawalsky, he said, "Call the general and tell him we'll be a few minutes." With that, he headed for the back of the house, waving at Charlie and Daniel to follow him. Upon finding the master bedroom, he opened up a closet, expecting to find his clothes and luggage--because that's where he would have put it--but it was filled with Carter's girl stuff. "Where's the luggage, Charlie?"

"Garage."

"You wanna go get a couple of bags?" he asked his son. Then, to Daniel he said, "You pack for me, and I'll take care of Charlie. And throw a couple things in there for you, too."

Daniel nodded, looking around this world's Jack and Samantha's bedroom. Jack took a look, too. It gave him a weird and unpleasant twist in his gut to see their things so entwined. "Freaky," Jack commented.

"Do you feel that way about our Sam?" Daniel asked, picking up an ornate silver mirror off the dresser.

"Hell, no," Jack said, which elicited a startled snicker out of Daniel. He heard clumping and turned to find Charlie dragging two suitcases down the hallway. Retrieving them and giving one to Daniel, Jack herded Charlie into his bedroom. "I'll do the clothes," Jack said. "You collect everything you don't want to leave behind. I have no idea when we'll get back here."

Charlie shot him a look that said quite eloquently: okay-dad-but-I-think-you're-nuts, but he obediently started going through his possessions.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later they were driving up to Cheyenne Mountain. Charlie's face was plastered to the window and Jack guessed he couldn't blame him. The place was a disaster. The top part of the mountain was gone, and there were crews digging through the rubble, either looking for survivors, or trying to save whatever classified information that hadn't been blasted into smithereens. 

It was kind of a miracle that there was still an entrance into and out of the mountain. Jack hadn't really been paying attention when they'd left, too angry, and too focused on seeing Charlie. Kawalsky took them down one of the little used roads to where a heavily guarded entrance stood. Now that he was thinking rationally, Jack realized that all the roads heading up to what was left of the mountain had been lined with armed soldiers. It made sense considering that none of the security doors were functioning. It was going to take manpower, not technology, to keep people off the site. 

"Train stops here," Kawalsky said, coming to a stop.

They all got out of the car, suitcases as well, and Kawalsky called a couple of SFs to play lackey. Jack was just as glad. He had no idea what Daniel had packed to make his suitcase so heavy. It wasn't like Daniel had had any books at this Jack's house. Maybe he'd packed the silverware.

Surprisingly, they let Charlie down to the 28th level, but at that point he was stopped. "Why don't you guys go to the cafeteria?" Jack told Daniel. He really wasn't crazy about them going anywhere without him, but he knew there was no way Hammond would let a kid sit in on their briefing, nor should he. Charlie didn't need to hear this shit, at least not yet. 

Jack just had to hope like hell that this Hammond was as much a man of integrity as his Hammond was, and that Charlie and Daniel wouldn't disappear and end up being held as ransom for Jack's good behavior.

He watched as Daniel and Charlie, hand in hand, headed down the corridor, the two SFs in tow, one on guard, the other dragging suitcases.

"Jack," a voice called out, and Jack, disbelievingly, turned to find Carter walking toward him. 

"Who let you out of your cage?" he snarled. There was one freaking guard on her, and he looked to be about fifteen.

She recoiled from the tone of his voice, saying, "Jack," again, as if astonished at his anger.

"That's Colonel O'Neill to you, Carter," Jack snapped. "I'm not married to you. I don't want to be married to you. I don't even want to be in the same room as you."

When her eyes grew bright with tears, Jack rolled his eyes and turned to Kawalsky. "Thor?" he asked impatiently.

Carter touched his arm and Jack backed away. "I mean it, Carter. Stay away from me."

"You're just like my Jack," she protested. "That means you could love me, too. You must have loved your Samantha."

"She's a subordinate on my team and a damn good one. I'd have trusted my life to her any day. But that's it. And that's more than you'll ever get from me."

"No one was supposed to get hurt," she said disconsolately.

"And that makes it all right?" Jack asked scathingly. "You took my life away from me. You almost killed Daniel, still might if the Daniel Jackson of this reality is alive." He shook his head at her, his face one big grimace, "Just keep your distance. Don't talk to me. Don't even look at me."

"Jack," she said as if speaking to an idiot, "I can't keep my distance if we're working here together. I know what I did was wrong, but I really believe if we spend some time together, you'll--"

"Don't even finish that sentence," Jack warned her. "You are completely nuts." He looked at Kawalsky. "Can we go?"

"Sure," Kawalsky said.

"Jack," Carter called beseechingly from behind him as he walked away.

  
Jack ignored her, as close to committing violence against a woman as he'd ever been in his life. 

"What about Charlie?" she called out.

Jack spun around. "You leave him alone."

"But he's not your son," she said, as if winning a serious point.

"Leave him alone," he said menacingly, slowly, emphasizing each word. He saw her eyes widen and she took a step backwards, one hand over her chest. Satisfied she'd heard his deadly intent, he turned his back on her again and followed Kawalsky to the conference room.

* * *

"I am sorry, Colonel O'Neill," Thor said, "but I am unaware of the presence of another quantum mirror. If any of the Asgard locate one, I would be glad to let you know."

Jack could hardly argue the point. There might only be one mirror per reality, maybe not even that. Then, again, there could be hundreds of them; one might be sitting in some old lady's attic.

"Any way to find one quicker than that?"

"I know of no sensors that would pick up a quantum signature that small. Indeed, I had no idea one was being used to provide this planet the means to contact us. While it may be possible, the Asgard cannot spare the resources to attempt the creation of such a device at this time."

He let out a long sigh. "General?" he said to Hammond. 

"I know what you want to ask, Colonel," Hammond said gravely, "and as much as I'd like to help you, you already know the answer. Other than bringing our teams home, the gate's not to be used until the United States government decides how to go public."

Jack chewed the inside of his cheek for a few seconds.

"I'd like to try to convince you to stay," Hammond tried. "We could use your help."

Shaking his head, Jack said, "You don't need me. I don't know what the Jack O'Neill from here was like, but I'm no politician. And on top of that, I'm mad as hell and in no mood to be paraded out in public and say what I'm told to say."

"I can only imagine your frustration with the situation," Hammond argued, "but you and your team have no doubt seen things we haven't. If you believed in the worth of your program, perhaps you can help us prove the worth of ours."

"If all you're looking for is a debrief," Jack offered out of regard for his own Hammond, "I'm willing to do that. And Daniel would be a good one for that, too, probably better than me. But, before either of us can do that, we need to go to Egypt."

"To find the other Daniel Jackson?" Hammond guessed.

"Yes, sir, and hope like hell he's dead."

"And if he's not?" Hammond countered.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," was all Jack said. And if it came to it, Jack would have to hope that, at the end of the day, Jack's Daniel was a whole lot more useful to Stargate Command than this reality's Daniel would be. He turned to Thor. "Any chance we can hitch a ride with you? It would speed things up." He glanced at his watch. "We're running out of time."

"Has Daniel experienced any of the tremors Samantha did?" Kawalsky asked.

Jack shook his head. "No, but Carter was in our reality for a lot longer before they hit." To Thor he said, "How about it?"

"I would be pleased to transport you to your destination if General Hammond does not object," Thor said agreeably enough.

Hammond looked like he wanted to object, but he nodded.

Jack was relieved, and almost surprised at how easily Hammond was letting him go. Jack guessed Hammond had some thinking to do about the risk of having Jack involved, not just because Jack could cause more harm than good by saying the wrong thing to the wrong people, but because he also needed to weigh the various strengths of Carter versus Jack. There was no doubt in Jack's mind that Carter would be the better choice, both as a public spokesperson, as well as for her smarts, despite the fact that she was a complete psycho.

Thinking of that, Jack said, "Sir, I'd appreciate some advance warning about any cover story you come up with if it has something to do with the Jack O'Neill of this reality. If you plan to announce that I’m dead, so I need to go by a different name, I will. If I stay alive, I just want to be crystal clear that from this point forward, Jack O'Neill is not in love in any way, shape or form, with Carter. And I'm taking my son with me," Jack added in a voice that he hoped was clearly saying: fuck-with-that-at-your-peril. "He's mine. Not hers."

"Understood," Hammond said.

Jack could see the weariness on Hammond's face and was sorry he was adding to it. The man had lost huge numbers of his people, he had a world reeling from the effects of an attack from outer space, and he was sitting on the reason why. "I will help, sir, if I can do it from a distance," he found himself offering, unable not to offer some assistance.

"I appreciate that, Colonel. Please let me know how I can contact you."

Sincerely hoping he didn't come to regret that offer, Jack nodded. "As soon as I know, you'll know, sir."

Hammond turned to Thor. "Commander Thor, I can't begin to express my gratitude for your assistance. The Acting President has assured me that we can sit down with him tomorrow to start work on a treaty to become a protected planet."

Thor gave Hammond a head bow. "Then, I shall see you tomorrow."

Jack felt Thor's transporter start to beam him up. "Wait," he started to protest but then found himself on Thor's ship, Daniel, Charlie, and their two suitcases next to him. "Sweet," he said approvingly.

"Charlie," he said next, "Meet Thor, the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. Thor, meet my son Charlie."

"I am very pleased to meet you," Thor said politely.

Charlie's mouth was hanging open, and all he could do was stare at Thor, at the ship, and out the front window where the planet Earth was showcased like a jewel on velvet.

"We weren't formally introduced," Daniel said to Thor, "I'm Daniel Jackson. I assume from us being beamed up here that you're taking us to Egypt?"

"You assume correctly," Thor said. "If you would be so kind as to give me the coordinates."

Jack left Daniel to it, while he walked Charlie over to the viewscreen. "Pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"Are we actually in space?" Charlie asked reverently. "That's really real?" he added, pointing to Earth.

"That's really real," Jack assured him. "And yes, we're on a spaceship in space." 

"Charles Walker," Daniel mused from behind him, "said that when he first saw the Earth from space, he felt something was missing." He moved to stand next to Jack and smiled, "He felt there should have been a grand musical accompaniment, a triumphant inspired symphony."

Jack smiled back. "Like the 1812 Overture?"

"Or maybe something that speaks of peace instead of war," Daniel suggested.

"Ode to Joy?" Jack said.

The smile Daniel shot him made Jack's chest tighten. He had his own little ode to joy happening right here. If he could have chosen the two people that mattered most to him in the world, any world, it would have been these two. That he should have them both with him, right now, took his breath away. Some of the joy slipped away when he thought of what possibly lay beneath them in Abydos. "You ready to go?" he asked Daniel, conscious of time slipping away.

Daniel nodded. "How about you, Charlie? You ready?"

"Can I come back?" Charlie asked Jack, eyes still wide with wonder.

"That's up to Thor. It's his ship."

"You are welcome here any time we are in orbit, Charlie O'Neill," Thor offered magnanimously.

Charlie's eyes grew even wider and he turned to Jack. "An alien knows my name," he whispered sotto voce in delight. 

Jack couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Pretty sweet, huh?"

Charlie, apparently getting over being awestruck, asked Thor, "How will we know you're in orbit?"

Thor walked over to one of the consoles. "You may have this," he said, handing it to Jack. "When it lights, you will know I am within beaming range. Simply turn it like so," Thor demonstrated turning it clockwise, "and we will be in communication." 

Looking at Charlie, Thor said in a wistful voice, "We have had no young to teach for millennium." His tone explained to Jack why he was so willing to stay in touch with them.

"Something tells me that Charlie would be a willing student," Daniel said, smiling at them all.

Charlie nodded emphatically. 

"Perhaps I will see you before we leave your galaxy," Thor suggested.

"Let us know when the treaty signing is over and maybe we can pop by for a visit," Jack suggested. Assuming he was in the mood for a visit. There was still a lot that could go wrong.

"I will do as you say," Thor agreed. "Are you ready to be transported down?"

"Can you try and tuck us away somewhere?" Jack asked, not really wanting to be beamed into the middle of a crowded bazaar.

On the screen came a picture of Abydos. It wasn't as untouched as Kawalsky and Hammond had believed. Several structures had been reduced to rubble. 

"Right there," Daniel said, pointing at a collection of tents. "Put us behind that last one there."

No sooner had he spoken than Jack felt the beam take them.

* * *

Jack watched with Charlie as Daniel was hugged with enthusiasm by what looked to be the seven tribes of Egypt.

"Do they know him, Dad?" Charlie asked, as perplexed as Jack.

"I have no idea," Jack said. When they'd walked around the tent, Daniel had started talking Arabic to the first man they'd seen, and in what felt like seconds they'd been surrounded by dozens of men, all slapping Daniel on the back, huge smiles on their faces. Jack didn't know if the reception was because they knew the other Daniel and thought this Daniel was he, or if it was just Daniel's ability to instantly connect with people.

"Jack," Daniel called, gesturing for them to join him.

Jack and Charlie headed over, making their way through the ever-growing throng to reach Daniel. "What's going on?" Jack asked cautiously.

"They, uh, they know--" Daniel shot a look at Charlie, "uh, me. That's my tent," he added, pointing at one of the tents. "They thought I was dead and they're pretty happy to see me."

Jack did his best not to jump for joy at that news. "Why did they think you were dead?" he asked.

"Because I was in an area that collapsed during an earthquake. Apparently LA and Tokyo weren’t the only cities that acted as epicenters. The blasts hitting Cairo caused, as far as I can figure out, tectonic shifts that--"

Jack put up his hand to stop him. "Yadda. Are you dead? I mean, is he dead?"

"I don't know. They haven't found a body yet," he said, shooting Jack, then Charlie a look, as if not sure how careful they were supposed to be when talking about alternate realities and alternate versions of themselves.

  
Jack shrugged. Charlie needed to know, and they wouldn't get anywhere if they had to talk around the truth. "Where was he working?"

"I'll show you," Daniel said. He shot off another fluent spate of Arabic, got more hugs and back-slapping, and then Daniel had them put their suitcases into the other Daniel's tent. He looked around and smiled a little. "I loved this life."

"Until it all blew up in your face," Jack reminded him.

"Yeah, but it didn't for him. He must have decided not to go public with his findings because here he is, was, living the life I always thought I'd live until I died."

Jack considered his friend. "Are you sorry things worked out the way they did?"

"For me?" Daniel asked, hand on his chest. "You mean would I trade what we did for this?" He looked around the tent. "No."

"You sure?" Jack asked, not convinced.

Daniel touched the beautiful swathe of fabric that covered the bed and sat down on it. Jack pulled up a piece of rug, and Charlie sat close to him. They needed to go, but Daniel wanted a minute, and Jack was willing to give it to him.

Daniel's eyes were a little bright when he looked up again at Jack. "I'm almost sure. Or, more correctly, I'm sure about parts of it. Would I trade you for this? No. Would I trade Sam, and Teal'c, and the amazing adventure we lived for this? No. Would I have been happy if I'd never known a Stargate existed and chosen this life instead? Yes, I would have been happy."

And not been almost killed a half dozen times or become a widower, Jack thought to himself. 

"I love this land, this country," Daniel said dreamily. "Egyptians are the most wonderful people you'll ever meet. They're respectful, loving, funny people who value life and each other. Having the Stargate program made public now," he continued, eyes gleaming with excitement, "I could become a part of the process that brings all the new information to light, relearning Egyptian history as the true history of our first interaction with other alien species."

Jack could totally see it; see Daniel here, in his robes, blabbering with the workmen, painstakingly rebuilding the world's sense of itself with tender loving care. "They got good schools here?" he asked.

"Not particularly," Daniel admitted. "But I was home schooled by my parents, and I did okay."

Jack grinned at him. "A bit more than okay."

That was when it hit. Just a small one, but Daniel seemed to blur all of sudden, as if there were suddenly ten of him all trying to fit in the same space. "Crap," Jack yelled, standing up, moving to Daniel.

It stopped, and Daniel looked up at Jack with stricken eyes. "He's not dead."

Charlie tugged at Jack's hand. "Who's not dead?" Charlie asked, understandably freaked as he stared at Daniel. "What's wrong with him?" 

Jack wished Charlie were a few years younger so he could just pick him up and hold him. "Remember when I said I'd explain this all to you?"

Charlie nodded.

"I will. But first we need to find someone."

"Jack," Daniel said warningly. 

"We just need to find him," Jack said. "Let's go."

Daniel hesitated but nodded, standing. He left the tent, Jack and Charlie behind him.

They hadn't gotten far when Daniel was being hugged by someone tall, blonde and beautiful. "Daniel, I thought you were dead!" the woman said, hugging him again, and then, much to Jack's consternation, kissing him like she meant business. 

Daniel went with it for a few seconds but then he took a step back and stared at her. "Sarah?"

"Are you all right?" she asked, touching his cheek, near one of his bruises. "You look a little confused. Did you hit your head?"

"No, I'm fine," Daniel said very unconvincingly.

"Daniel?" Jack said, needing to get moving again.

"Oh, right. Um, Sarah Gardner, this is Jack and Charlie. Jack and Charlie, this is Sarah. She's a friend," he finished up weakly.

"A friend?" Sarah asked with a laugh, a very proprietary hand taking a longish walk over Daniel's ass.

Jack wanted to knock her on _her_ ass. Only the pole-axed expression on Daniel's face kept her safe. "Come on, Daniel," Jack said. "We gotta go."

"Right," Daniel said quickly, looking relieved. "We've, uh, gotta go. I'll talk to you later." He backed away from her and Jack took up position behind him to protect Daniel's six.

She winked at Daniel, purred out a "See you later," then said, "Oh, my God, I have to tell Claire you're okay," and sprinted away.

"A friend?" Jack asked.

"An old girlfriend. She broke up with me when I wouldn't listen to her and went public with my findings. The last thing she wanted was to be associated with a laughingstock," he added with a remarkable absence of bitterness.

"You miss her?" Jack asked, hoping like hell the answer was no.

"No," Daniel said, this time sounding like he meant it. "No, I don't." He flashed Jack a smile and then strode off.

"Good," Jack said under his breath, walking quickly to catch up, towing Charlie behind him.

A few minutes later, a dark-haired man approached Daniel and it was like deja-vu. Jack watched as this guy hugged Daniel, said, "Oh my God, Daniel, I thought you were dead. How did you get out?"

"I wasn't in there," Daniel said honestly. 

"Thank God," the man said. And then _he_ was kissing Daniel. Seriously kissing Daniel. 

Jack had had enough. "Hey," he said loudly, tapping the guy on the shoulder. "Do you mind?"

The man looked up and Jack got a glimpse of Daniel who was looking--much to Jack's annoyance-- well-kissed, and just as pole-axed. "Steven?" Daniel managed to get out.

Steven shot him a confused look, and then shot Jack a haughty one. "Can I help you?" he asked in a tone that said that he hoped he could help Jack find his way to anywhere but here.

"I'm with him," Jack said, pointing at Daniel.

"Um," Daniel said. "This is Steven Rayner. He's a friend, too."

Steven snorted. "Very friendly."

"Apparently," Jack sniped. "Jack O'Neill, with two l's," he said, not holding out his hand. "This is my son, Charlie." To Daniel he said, "We need to go."

"We'll talk later," Steven said to Daniel. When he opened his mouth to say something else, Jack interrupted him. 

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Jack said, dragging Daniel away. When they got far enough away from Rayner, Jack stopped and looked at Daniel. "Dr. Jackson, in this reality, you seem to be quite the little slut."

Daniel blinked at him. "I know," he said in disbelief.

"Was he an old boyfriend?" Jack asked oh-so-casually.

"Not really," Daniel said.

"Not really?" Jack asked, proud that his voice didn't squeak. "What was he, then?" It had never crossed his mind that Daniel might bat for both teams. It opened up worlds of possibilities that Jack had rarely allowed himself to even think about.

"Can we talk about this later?" Daniel asked, gesturing toward Charlie.

"Were you kissing that guy?" Charlie asked, his face scrunched up. 

"No, he was kissing Daniel," Jack offered unhelpfully.

"Is he like Uncle Ben?" Charlie asked. Uncle Ben was gay, and had been in a long-time relationship with honorary Uncle Ray.

"Maybe," Jack said.

"Who's Uncle Ben?" Daniel asked suspiciously.

"Let's go," Jack said. "Time's a wastin'. Hopefully, we won't run into any _other_ of your friends."

"His friends, Jack," Daniel said, accompanied by a narrow-eyed glare.

"Whatever." He gestured forward and they all began to move again.

When they arrived, there were a handful of workers still digging at the collapsed site, but when they saw Daniel, they broke off and surrounded him, ecstatic.

Jack watched as Daniel reassured them and sent them on their way. They did their best to talk Daniel into accompanying them, but Daniel managed to blow them off without annoying them. 

When they were gone, Jack asked, "You the only one in there?" 

Daniel nodded. He stared at the site.

"Why'd you send them away?" Jack asked. "You expecting us to dig?" Jack eyed the fallen structure with dubious eyes. They weren't clearing that stuff away without some heavy equipment.

"If need be," Daniel told him. "I sent them away because I didn't think they needed to find two of me. I thought that might be a little hard to explain."

Good reason. But Jack still wasn't digging.

"This place looks really familiar to me," Daniel said musingly. He took a step toward the jumbled rocks and sediment. "Come this way."

He started to walk around the structure, making his way over boulders and slipping sand.

"Where are we going?" Jack asked.

"I remember this place from when I was a child," Daniel said. "And I think there's another entrance farther on."

"And why doesn't everyone else know that?" Jack asked.

"I found it one day when I was exploring. I never told anyone, and maybe no one ever found it in this reality."

Jack had no trouble imagining Daniel as a little kid running around this place like he was in an archeologist's Disney World. "This whole place is a dig," Jack complained. "How could they not have found it, too?"

"I don't know, Jack," Daniel said with a frown. "I just know we need a way in, and we're not getting in the front door." He shook his head in confusion. "I'm not sure what he was even doing inside this place. It's not a ruin at all. If I'm right, this was built in the late 1800s, probably to house the workers. When I was here my parents used it to stockpile supplies. 

Jack frowned but shut up, following Daniel as he kept walking and walking. And walking. 

"Are we almost there yet?" Charlie asked.

"Excellent question," Jack griped. "Are you trying to tell me that wherever you're taking us actually connects to that place?" he asked, thumb over his shoulder. He was starting to understand why no one else had found it. "That was one hell of a building or whatever," he observed. He glanced at Charlie and thought he looked a little overwhelmed by everything, which was hardly surprising. After all, just a few hours ago he'd been in Colorado Springs and life had been pretty normal. Now? Not so much.

"Some of these structures had underground tunnels that ran for miles," Daniel explained. "Often they were dug by families who used them, over decades, to systematically rob every grave and site they could get their hands on, selling off the artifacts one by one to feed themselves. The government does their best to find the tunnels and seal them off, trying to protect what few resting places haven't been disturbed." 

Jack was just starting to wish he'd brought a canteen when Daniel stopped. 

"It's around here somewhere," Daniel said.

Looking around skeptically, Jack said, "Uh huh." He had no idea how Daniel could tell this spot from any other. It all looked the same to him. Sand and more sand, with some rocks thrown in for good measure.

Rolling his eyes at Jack's tone, Daniel began to search the area. Every now and then he'd jump up and down.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Shut up, Jack," Daniel said, jumping again.

Charlie was apparently finding whatever Daniel was doing more entertaining than Jack sulking, so he moved to join Daniel. Soon Charlie was doing the jumping thing, too. Daniel jumped one more time, and when he landed, his leg disappeared. "Ah," he yelped.

Jack shot up from where he'd made himself as comfortable as a man could be in rocks and sand and ran to him. 

"Found it," Daniel said ruefully.

"You okay?" Jack asked. "What is your leg stuck in, exactly, and are you bleeding?"

"No, Jack," Daniel said patiently. "I'm not bleeding, although I might have a few splinters." He dug away at the sand and revealed patches of wood. "Help me up."

Charlie and Jack yanked at him until his leg was free. 

"You're lucky you didn't sever an artery," Jack griped when he saw that Daniel was relatively unscathed.

Sighing, Daniel got down on his knees and began to brush the sand away, Charlie helping a few seconds later. Grumbling, Jack got down on his knees to help as well. It took only a matter of minutes to reveal the remains of an old trap door. They shifted around so they could open it, and Daniel cautioned them to turn away and not breathe the stale air.

After a couple of minutes, Jack peered inside. It was a very short drop to the ground. In fact, Jack thought the trap door would barely come to mid-thigh. This was gonna be fun, he thought sourly. Crawling for who knows how long on his hands and knees.

"It gets taller fast," Daniel assured him.

"So says the six-year-old boy," Jack sniped.

Daniel winced a little. "It's all I've got."

"Yeah, yeah. Is it safe?"

"I don't know," Daniel said. "Maybe I should go by myself."

"Maybe I should go by _myself_ ," Jack threw out.

"There is no way I'm letting you go by yourself," Daniel said sternly.

Shit. There went that plan. Jack tried again. "It makes sense for me to go."

"On what planet?" Daniel asked sarcastically. "I know this place. I know where I'm going. And I'm not letting you go in there alone."

"Daniel," Jack griped.

"Forget it," Daniel said. "I can go alone, and you can stay out here with Charlie."

"I'm not letting you go by yourself," Jack said.

"I can take care of myself," Daniel said, annoyed.

"I never said you couldn't," Jack said back, just as annoyed. "I just think that whatever it is you find in there, that you might like some company."

Daniel looked at Jack for a moment and then winced in uneasy agreement.

"You and I will go," Jack said. "Charlie--"

"Uh uh," Charlie said. "I'm going, too."

Jack sighed. It was against his better judgment, but he could hardly blame Charlie for not wanting to be left alone. "This is so stupid," Jack said. And if they didn't really have to know if the Daniel Jackson of this reality were alive or not, Jack would be more than ready to call it a day and head for the closest cold beer. To Daniel he said, "How do we know it won't collapse more?"

"We don't," Daniel said. "But I haven't felt any earth tremors since we arrived, have you?"

Jack shook his head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," Jack muttered to himself as he stepped into the hole and got down on his hands and knees, peering into the darkness. "I don't suppose we have flashlights, do we?" Jack had snuck a few things out of the mountain for this trip, but a flashlight wasn't one of them. No way was he going down there without a light.

Daniel handed him a flashlight.

Jack's eyebrows went up. "Where did you get that?"

"From his tent," Daniel said.

"Sweet," Jack said.

"Why don't you let me go first?" Daniel suggested.

That went against the grain, too, but Jack supposed it actually made sense. It's not like he had any friggin' idea of where they were going. He turned to Charlie. "If I say duck, you duck. If I say run, you run."

Charlie nodded.

"I'm not kidding," Jack said sternly. "If I say jump, you--"

"Jump," Charlie said. "I get it, dad."

"Stupid," Jack said again. He glared at Daniel. "This is stupid."

"So stay out here with Charlie," Daniel said in a reasonable tone that made Jack want to smack him upside the head.

"Daniel," Jack tried.

"No, Jack. I have to. He's me. And if he's hurt, or if he's dying, I don't want him to be alone."

Crap. Jack hated it when Daniel pulled the higher ground compassionate-human-being card. It was so fucking hard to argue with. "Okay," he said, exasperated. "Go."

"Get out and I will," Daniel snapped.

Jack crawled out of the hole in the ground.

"Dad?" Charlie pulled on Jack's sleeve, encouraging him to lean down. 

Jack was only half paying attention as he watched Daniel start to crawl down the tunnel.

"Is he crazy?" Charlie asked, tugging on his sleeve again.

"Who?"

"Daniel?"

Jack blinked as the question sank in, and he turned to look at Charlie. "No, he's not crazy. Why?"

"He keeps talking like there's two of him." Charlie frowned. "You do it, too."

"Remember that explanation I promised you?" Jack asked.

Charlie nodded.

"That's part of it." He felt a lopsided smile on his face. "Just keep in mind that you were actually on a spaceship today, and you met an alien who beamed us to Egypt, okay? Weird's sort of the order of the day."

"So this is all gonna make sense?"

Jack bit the inside of his cheek. "No, not so much." He turned to see that Daniel was gone, out of sight and, with an eye roll, Jack stepped into the hole. "Follow me real close." He could just barely see a light ahead, and realized that Daniel must have a flashlight, too. "Boy Scout," he muttered.

He crouched down, ignoring his protesting knees, and followed Daniel. Jack waited a moment to make sure Charlie was right behind him. Seeing as Daniel hadn't done any yelping, Jack figured that they weren't going to run into anything nasty that had been using this as a den. Images from The Mummy came back to him and he hoped like hell there wasn't any sort of curse in play. For a moment he felt like scarab beetles were crawling all over him.

Shaking off the thought, he headed off after Daniel. He couldn't even see the light now. "Daniel," he hissed, then felt stupid for whispering. "Daniel," he hissed a little louder, still unable to speak in normal tones.

"What?" came a grumpy voice from up ahead.

"Don't get so far ahead of us. Slow down."

"Move faster," was the rejoinder.

"Not nuts," Jack said conversationally to Charlie. "Pissy."

He heard a snicker behind him and Jack grinned. He concentrated on moving, now ignoring not just the ache in his knees, but the growing one in his back and neck. He was too old for this shit.

After a few minutes, the tunnel did seem to grow larger, but not large enough to actually stand. He looked behind him to find Charlie almost standing. He just needed to duck his head. "Show off," Jack murmured.

An endless amount of minutes later, Jack heard Daniel talking to someone.

"Who's he talking to?" Charlie asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure," Jack totally lied. He kept crawling. It didn't take long until they were there. The other Daniel, Jackson in Jack's mind, was lying on the ground, the entire bottom half of his body covered in debris. Heavy debris. Too heavy for them to move. There was blood dribbling out of his mouth, and he already looked half dead. He'd be all the way dead soon, which Jack was glad about, even as it freaked him out to watch any Daniel die.

Jack's Daniel was holding his hand tightly while the dying Jackson stared up at him. Both of them noticed Jack and Charlie's arrival, and two sets of identical eyes focused on Jack.

Charlie gasped. "There _are_ two of you," he said in wonder. He turned to Jack. "Are there two of you?"

Jack scrunched his face up. "Sort of."

"I don't understand," Jackson said mournfully to Daniel.

"You don't need to understand," Daniel said softly, kindly. "I'm a friend. I promise you."

Jackson stared at him. "I'm dying, aren't I?"

"Yes," Daniel said honestly.

To Jack, Jackson said, "Are you a friend, too?"

Jack made his way to Jackson's other side and took his free hand. "I'm your best friend," he told the dying man.

Jackson blinked at him, his brow furrowed, as if thinking had gotten entirely too hard. Jack glanced down and saw what Daniel had already seen. Jackson's pelvis and everything south was crushed. There was a large pool of blood around his hips. It was probably the killing weight of the rocks on him that had, paradoxically, kept him from immediately bleeding out.

"It hurts," Jackson admitted, trying to shift, letting out a groan when he got nothing but pain for his efforts.

"I'm sorry," Daniel said, his eyes bright with tears.

"At least I'm not alone," Jackson said shakily. "I thought I'd die here alone."

"You're not alone," Daniel promised him. "We'll stay until it's done."

Jackson nodded and closed his eyes. The silence was only broken by Jackson's increasingly labored breathing.

"Claire?" Daniel suddenly said.

Jackson, startled, opened his eyes. "What?" he gasped out.

"You called me Claire, when I first got here. Claire who?" 

"You mean mom?" Jackson asked for clarification. 

"She's still alive?" Daniel stuttered out.

That got a long careful look from Jackson. "What happened to your mom?"

"She died when I was eight," Daniel said. "Her and dad."

"They're still alive here," Jackson said. "Both of them." He coughed and more blood frothed out. "Promise me you'll take good care of them?"

"I will," Daniel said, a few tears rolling down his cheeks. He wiped the blood off Jackson's face with his sleeve.

Jack felt Charlie sit down next to him, pressing close, his hand finding Jack's. Jack put his arm around him and pulled him even closer. "Hey," he said softly to him. Jack had no idea what was going on in his son's head, how he was even beginning to make sense of all the shit that had gone down today. He needed to figure out some way to generate income so he could pay for Charlie's lifelong therapy sessions.

"What's your name?" Jackson asked, rallying a little, looking at Charlie.

"Charlie," he said.

"Charlie," Jackson repeated. 

Charlie tried to burrow into Jack. There was no way he couldn't see how badly Jackson was hurt, that he was dying. Crash course in mortality, Jack thought, see it right here. Of course, this Charlie had already had a crash course when he'd shot Sara.

"Are you going to take my life?" Jackson asked, this time looking at Daniel.

"You mean kill you?" Daniel asked, appalled.

"No, I mean my life? You're me, aren't you?"

"I'm you from a different reality," Daniel said honestly.

Jackson coughed again, groaning in pain. "There're journals in my tent. In my apartment. Read them."

"I know," Daniel said, caressing Jackson's brow. "I write them, too."

"Tell mom and dad the truth," Jackson said. 

"I will," Daniel promised, even as he shot Jack a look.

Jack wasn't sure what that look meant, but now wasn't the time to get into it. He did wonder, though, if Daniel could just slip into this life. And if he did, where Jack and Charlie would fit. 

"Tell my daughter--" There was another spate of coughing, ending on a sob, ripped out of him.

Daniel's eyebrows almost soared off his forehead. "What?"

"Her name's Rebecca Claire," Jackson said. "Tell her I love her."

Daniel was gaping at Jackson.

"Who was her mom?" Jack asked, thinking they should probably know.

"Rebecca Campson," Jackson gasped out. "She's dead. She died in a car accident." Another groan. The sound brought tears to Jack's eyes. He wished like hell he had some morphine with him. "Oh, God," Jackson moaned.

"Rebecca?" Daniel repeated.

"Did you know a Rebecca?" Jack asked.

Daniel nodded. "Barely." He refocused in on Jackson, brushing the tears off the dying man's cheeks. "I'm sorry you hurt so much."

"Me, too," Jackson managed to get out. "But, I'm glad you're here." He closed his eyes again. "Will you tell her I love her? Will you take care of her?"

"You know I will," Daniel promised.

Jackson managed to eke out a smile. "Yeah, I guess I do." He drew in one last breath, gave Daniel, Jack, and Charlie a heart-breaking smile, and then it was done.

"Is he dead?" Charlie asked in a shaky voice.

"Yeah, buddy, he is," Jack told him, letting go of Jackson's hand, and pulling Charlie into his lap, not caring at all that Charlie was eleven, and way too old to be sitting in someone's lap like this.

Charlie didn't seem to mind in the least, resting his head on Jack's chest. "Are you really my dad?" he asked, still in that same shaky voice.

"I'm really another Charlie's dad," Jack finally said, shooting a look at Daniel that was part help-me, part oh-shit-terror at what Charlie would do or say. "But, my Charlie's dead," he said, his voice cracking, fighting hard against tears, the memory of it still raw after all this time. "See, so we're kind of a matched set now."

"My real dad's dead?" Charlie sniffed, rubbed at his eyes.

"Yeah, Charlie," Jack said with a wince. "Your real dad's dead." Jack hadn't meant to lay it on him quite so bluntly.

"But," Charlie said with a hint of fear in his voice, "you'll be my dad now, though, won't you?"

Jack dropped his face and hid it in Charlie's hair. "Oh, yeah, buddy, I'll be your dad, now. You and me."

"And Daniel?" Charlie asked.

Jack smiled through his tears. "And Daniel." He was glad Charlie had already gotten attached to Daniel. It showed he had good taste. Jack glanced up, saw that Daniel was sniffling through his own tears. "The three musketeers," Jack said.

"I have a daughter, Jack," Daniel said in wonder. "I don't even know how old she is." There was a pause. "My parents are still alive." Another pause. "I have parents. I have a daughter."

Jack put on his best disgruntled face. "You have a best friend, and it's not Steven or Sarah."

Daniel smiled at him. "I have a best friend who means everything in the world to me."

"Okay, then," Jack grumbled.

"And me," Charlie said from Jack's chest.

"And you," Daniel said, reaching over and laying a gentle hand on Charlie's head. "An honorary nephew." He shook his head. "Can I really do this?"

"Take over his life?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. It doesn't seem right somehow. And what are you going to do?"

"Be where you are," Jack said. "We'll figure something out. Right now, all I want to do is get out of here."

"What do we do with him?" Daniel asked, brushing Jackson's bangs off his forehead.

"I'll show you," Jack said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a zat, one of the things he'd snuck out of the mountain.

"Jack," Daniel said quickly, a hand out to stop him.

"Daniel, we can't bring him out. Even if I zatted these rocks to get rid of them, we can't take him out of here and let anyone see him." He shone the light on Daniel's face. "You get that, right?"

Daniel nodded unhappily. "Yeah, I get that. It just seems so cold."

"He was okay with you taking over his life," Jack pointed out. "You can't do that successfully if there's a chance that someone will trip over him." He shone the flashlight on the dead Daniel. "It's this, or zat the rock and hope it doesn’t cause a worse cave-in and then bury him without anyone seeing anything. I vote for the zat."

Daniel signed but nodded. "I'll do it." He reached out a hand.

Jack shook his head. He would spare Daniel this. "No. I'll do it. You start heading back with Charlie. I'll catch up."

It looked like Daniel might argue with him, but in the end, he nodded, held out his hand to Charlie, and they both headed back out. Jack was touched at how easily Charlie trusted Daniel.

It was a matter of seconds before Jack shot the dead Daniel three times. As the debris that had moments before been held off the ground by Jackson's body began to settle, Jack hightailed it to where Daniel and Charlie were waiting, and they scurried along the tunnel until they finally emerged back into the sunlight.

* * *

Four hours later, Jack was nursing his second beer of the evening, some beer he'd never heard of with the word Sakara on the front, along with a picture of a pyramid and a bunch of Egyptian writing. Daniel had told him he'd like it, and he did.

It was only his second beer, because Jack couldn't get past the feeling that they were on a mission and he had to keep his wits about him. They weren't on a mission, obviously, but the night had been so surreal, they might as well have been on another planet in another galaxy. Which, Jack thought to himself, they sort of were, except it was still Earth, kinda.

Shaking his head to make his thoughts shut the fuck up, he resumed his favorite hobby: Daniel watching. The fact that he got to do some Charlie watching at the same time just made it unbearably sweeter.

Daniel's daughter, Rebecca, was a beauty, and Jack knew he'd be beating the boys off with a stick way too soon. Daniel would probably be too nice to do it, but Jack wouldn't have a bit of trouble. 

It had taken Jack all of five minutes to fall in love with her, with her huge blue eyes, and curly reddish blonde hair, and a shy smile, looking so much like Daniel that Jack had been smitten in moments. Charlie, too. Rebecca was nine, and Charlie hadn't left her side for most of the night.

Rebecca hadn't noticed anything off about her new dad from another reality; all she cared about was that he was alive, that he'd hugged her, and kissed her, and brought a young boy with him to be her friend. Like kids the world over, there'd been a few minutes of shy looks, and then they'd become fast friends. 

With Rebecca and Charlie happily chatting to each other--and Jack had already heard Charlie throw out some words in Arabic, no doubt under the linguistic tutelage of a second generation Jackson--Daniel had moved on to mom and dad Jackson. Jack had found a place to sit and watch, more than happy to wait until later to get introduced.

They, too, hadn't noticed anything at first, too happy to see that Daniel was in one piece. But Claire, his mom, had finally mentioned that he seemed different.

Jack would have bluffed through it, but Daniel was too much a man of his word, and he'd made a promise to the Daniel of this reality to tell the truth, so he'd sat at his parents' feet, and told them the entire story.

There'd been some tears shed, but Jack got that it was hard to grieve when there was a Daniel Jackson identical to their son sitting in front of them, who looked at this set of parents as if the sun rose and set with them. They looked ready to pull out adoption papers and make it final.

As Jack watched, Claire, Daniel's mom, reached out to touch Daniel's hair, with her eyes bright with tears, and Jack guessed it wouldn't be quite that easy. After all, this Daniel didn't have the memories of a lifetime together. But, this Daniel knew the secrets of the Goa'uld, and understood the significance of everything the Jacksons had been digging up for half a century, and that was quite a consolation prize. 

Jack frowned, allowing himself to finally think of what he'd left behind. No love interest, certainly, but good friends, especially Carter and Teal'c. They'd never stop looking for Jack and Daniel; they must be going crazy right about now, and it would only get worse in the days and weeks to come.

Eventually, Hammond would stop the official search, but they'd continue on their own, Carter putting pressure on her dad to help, trying to talk Thor into a little inter-dimensional hopping--after she helped build them a ship that could do that.

It was odd, though, that having Daniel here made all the difference. If Jack could, he'd spare Carter and Teal'c the pain they were going through, tell them to stop searching, that he was fine. Right now, at this particular moment, Jack wasn't sure he'd go home if his Thor suddenly beamed him up to his brand spanking new inter-dimensional spaceship called the Samantha Carter.

Even if he was, Jack wasn't sure Daniel would go. Well, he'd go, if Jack went, at least Jack was pretty sure he would, but this life was a pretty sweet deal for Daniel. He'd get to lead the re-education of the world in the company of his parents and daughter.

On the other hand, Jack had no idea what the hell he'd do. Digging in sand had little appeal, and there wasn't much fishing going on in the middle of the desert.

"Dad," Charlie burst out, interrupting Jack's reverie.

"What?" Jack said in return.

"Didn't you say that Daniel was ours? For keeps?"

Frowning, Jack nodded. It wasn't quite that simple; Daniel wasn't a puppy, but Charlie had the right idea. "Yeah, why?" At Charlie's point of his eleven year old hostile jaw, Jack's eyes moved to Daniel only to find Steven Rayner had arrived and was hanging all over him.

"Sheesh," Jack said. He'd only stopped watching Daniel for about five minutes and the interlopers were moving in. 

"That guy can't have him, right?" Charlie reproved the world at large.

"You got it," Jack said, more annoyed than he probably should have been. It wasn't like anyone was going to interfere with his and Daniel's friendship. There wasn't any real reason Daniel couldn't fool around; it would probably do him some good. But as Steven's hand sort of made its way south until he was about an inch from having his hand down Daniel's pants, Jack found himself on his feet.

Charlie beat him to it. He pushed through the crowd sitting near Daniel and sat down between Daniel and Steven, glowering at the man. If looks could kill, they'd be calling for a hearse for Rayner. Jack bit back a grin.

"You can't have him," Charlie said proprietarily. "He's ours."

Steven's brows knitted together. "Excuse me?"

"Me and my dad," Charlie said, as if that explained everything. "Daniel's ours."

"Who are you?" Steven retorted with some hauteur.

"Charlie O'Neill," Charlie said with equal disdain. 

In support of her new friend, Rebecca flung herself into Daniel's lap and glared at Steven, too.

Mom Jackson was doing a good job hiding her grin, but Jack had a sudden feeling that she wasn't a big fan of Rayner, which suited Jack just fine. Jack strolled over to where his son was making waves, and stood directly behind Daniel, so Daniel could use his legs as a back rest.

Daniel looked up, tilting his head back so he could see Jack and then, much to Jack's satisfaction, leaned back.

"See?" Charlie said boldly, waving his hand at Jack and Daniel, as if a picture told a thousand words. 

Daniel grinned at Charlie, kissed Rebecca on the top of her head, and said to Claire and Melburne, "This is Jack O'Neill, with two L's; he's Charlie's dad."

"It's very nice to meet you," Claire said, finally letting that grin take over her face.

"Pleasure's all mine, ma'am," Jack said as charmingly as he could, determined to win the whole Jackson clan over. He could feel Rayner's angry stare digging into the back of his head, and it just made him smile.

"So, you're Daniel's partner?" she asked demurely, a twinkle in her eye, and Jack just knew she was saying it to get Rayner's goat.

There were a lot of ways to define partner, Jack thought to himself, and he was okay with all of them right at the moment. "You betcha," Jack said to Claire.

Daniel shot him a look that was half surprised, half pleased, and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Since when?" Rayner said hostilely, fiercely frowning first at Jack, then at Charlie, who was still between Rayner and Daniel.

If Jack hadn't already hated him, that look directed at Charlie would have cinched it. "Back off," he suggested to Rayner in his best fuck-off-or-die voice.

Rayner did, immediately, pleasing Jack to no end, glad to know he still had it when he needed it. In fact, Rayner stood up and stalked off.

Charlie flashed an exultant grin at Jack, which Jack returned in spades.

Daniel rolled his eyes but couldn't hide his smile.

Claire patted a pillow next to her, encouraging Jack to sit down. "Here, sit down, tell me all about yourself."

Feeling like a son-in-law already, Jack sat down, shook hands with Melburne, "Mel, please," and settled in to meet his new family.

* * *

Bedtime arrangements had Jack sleeping on a cot in Daniel's tent, along with Charlie, while Rebecca slept in Daniel's parents' tent. Jack was used to sleeping almost anywhere, but he was surprised at how comfortable he was. The cots weren't your usual army issue, and the padding and blankets were soft to the touch. The tent, also not army issue, somehow kept the temperature just right for sleeping despite the chilling temperature outside.

As exhausted as he was, Jack was having a hard time falling soundly to sleep, and found himself drifting in and out. He wasn't sure how long he'd been dozing this time when whispering voices woke him up. 

"Daniel," a female voice hissed.

"Go 'way." Daniel said in his I'm-sleeping-get-lost voice. Jack was very familiar with that voice, having been treated to it for years.

"Daniel," a male voice demanded this time. "Get up. We want to talk to you."

There was a sigh. Then a yawn. Then another sigh. "What?" 

Jack grinned. Daniel may have one of the brightest minds in two galaxies but he was stupid as shit when he woke up, at least until he'd had his coffee and reconciled himself to the fact that he actually had to face another morning.

"Daniel," the female voice whispered again, growing annoyed.

Jack had figured out by this point that the midnight marauders were Steven Rayner and Sarah Gardner. He was looking forward to whatever conversation the two of them felt they needed to have with Daniel at 0-dark-thirty. He was looking forward even more to breaking it up if it became necessary.

There was some movement, although it was hard to see as well as Jack would have liked, given the lateness of the hour. 

"What time is it?" Daniel asked.

"Shhh," Sarah cautioned.

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Just get up and come with us," Rayner suggested strongly.

"Can't this wait for the morning? It's been a long day," Daniel whined.

No shit, Jack thought to himself. It was hard to believe it had only been one day. Daniel had watched Jack get zatted, gotten himself almost blown up, become an honorary uncle, found himself trapped in an alternate reality, beamed to a spaceship, beamed down to Egypt, watched his double die, met a daughter he'd never known, talked with parents he hadn't seen since his own had died when he was eight, and feasted with same until the wee hours of the morning.

One hell of a day.

"No, it can't wait," Rayner said snippily. "We've been waiting all night to talk to you without your pit bull."

"My what?" Daniel asked, sounding a little more alert, if no less confused.

"Just get up," Sarah bit out, obviously out of what little patience she had arrived with.

"Okay, okay," Daniel said grudgingly. There were sounds of rising, then movement towards the door of the tent. Jack waited to see if they were going to hover near the tent where he could stay comfortably ensconced in his bed while eavesdropping, or if he'd have to get up. 

When he heard footsteps heading away, Jack said, "Shit," then got up, shook out his boots to make sure nothing had crawled into them, and then slipped them on. Daniel had given him some robe thingy to sleep in, and it would have to do. Besides, all the men wore them during the day, so no one would think twice about seeing Jack in one.

He checked on Charlie, saw that he was sleeping the sleep of the truly pooped, and then he left the tent, quietly following Daniel and his two erstwhile friends.

Fortunately, they hadn't gone far, only to the closest fire pit, Sarah and Steven sitting down while Daniel stoked up the fire, looking chilled. Jack found a spot on the sand to sit, close enough to hear everything being said and to interfere if necessary, but far enough away that he wouldn't be observed. As he sat on the cold sand, he briefly mourned his comfy cot, and wished he'd brought a blankie with him.

Daniel got a nice blaze going, then turning to his two kidnappers, crossed his arms over his chest, frowned and said, "Okay, what was so important you had to drag me out of bed. And what pit bull?"

"Jack O'Neill," Rayner said scornfully. "Who the hell is he? Why haven't Sarah and I ever heard of him?"

Jack preened a little over being compared to a pit bull.

"He's a good friend," Daniel said slowly. "My best friend."

Jack preened at that, too.

"Since when?" Sarah asked derisively. "I thought we were your best friends. I've known you for years, we've practically lived in each other's back pockets, and you've never even mentioned this guy. When did you even have time to meet this guy, let alone become best friends?"

What a bitch, Jack thought to himself. It was pretty clear she liked having Daniel all to herself. Although it seemed like she was willing to share with Rayner. For a brief moment Jack wondered if the three of them had gone to bed together. The kisses earlier seemed to indicate that the Daniel Jackson of this reality had at least slept with them individually. 

"Um," Daniel began tentatively.

Jack winced. Unless someone's life depended on it, Daniel was shit at lying. It went so against his own moral code that it required something truly life-threatening to make him toss it aside. And it wasn't like Daniel had had any time to come up with good excuses to explain why he was different than the Daniel of two days ago. Jack almost got up to join Daniel, figuring he could toss out a believable lie or two and get him and Daniel back to bed posthaste. The sand was getting colder by the minute.

Daniel scrunched his face up, scratched his nose, bit his bottom lip, cleared his throat, and said nothing.

"He looks military," Rayner said. "Is he military?"

"Yes," Daniel said quickly, grabbing at the words like a life preserver.

"Does he have something on you?" Sarah interrogated. "Are you in trouble? Is he making you say this stuff? Does this have anything to do with the attack on Earth?"

Daniel opened his mouth and then shut it. Then, his face firming, he said, "No, he doesn't have anything on me. No, I'm not in trouble, and he's not making me say anything. He is my best friend. I've known him for four years but I can't tell you how, because it's classified."

Jack snorted quietly. Throwing out the classified card to these two was like chumming the water.

"What the hell does that mean?" Rayner bit out, exasperated. "Since when are you working on anything classified that we don't know about?"

"I can't tell you that," Daniel said primly. 

"I'm not buying any of this," Sarah said, still digging. "Something's fishy, and I'm going to find out what it is."

"Sarah," Daniel said in that tone of voice that even got Jack listening, "I'm thinking that instead of worrying about me, we should all be worrying about what happened yesterday. Earth was attacked by aliens, and thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people are dead. Maybe you could focus on that instead of being petulant that you don't know everything about me."

"Is he staying?" Sarah demanded, Daniel's speech clearly having made no impact.

"Jack?" Daniel clarified.

"Yes, Jack," Sarah said in aggravated tones.

"I hope so," Daniel said. "I want him to. He can help with what's going on. He knows things. We both know things. Everything you thought was true yesterday isn't anymore. Everything we thought we knew about Egypt's past is a lie."

"And you know this because of this classified project you've been working on?" Rayner said, his voice dripping frustration and hostility.

"Yes," Daniel said in a clipped tone. "But now it won't be classified anymore, and we can all learn together. The entire world needs to be reeducated about these aliens, about both races."

There was silence around the fire pit. "He's more than just a friend, isn't he?" Sarah asked.

"Are we back to this?" Daniel asked, his frustration evident. "Why do you care? I know we've all been friends and, um, more, but please don't try to expect me to believe that out of everything that's been happening these last couple of days, my love life takes priority." 

Love life, Jack echoed in his mind. Was Daniel talking about him? Or was Daniel talking about Sarah's intimation that there was more to Jack and Daniel's friendship than it seemed?

"So you do love him?" Sarah persisted, like a dog with a bone.

Daniel let out an aggrieved sigh. "I'm going back to bed. You two can play 'Daniel's One Life to Live' tomorrow."

"I think I deserve to know at least that," Sarah said ruthlessly. "And you can get off your high horse, Daniel. Of course we care about what's happening in the world, but it doesn't mean we're going to turn a blind eye to some stranger suddenly turning up pretending that he knows you as well as we do."

"Just tell us about O'Neill," Rayner said, like he was doing Daniel a favor. 

Daniel rolled his eyes heavenward as if looking for strength. "Did you hear anything I said?"

Jack knew Daniel was going to try some last ditch attempt at distraction. Jack knew it wouldn't work; these two were like leeches, and they weren't letting go.

"Ra, Apophis, Set, and dozens of others, they weren't Egyptian Pharaohs at all, they were aliens. Aliens called Goa'uld. Actually," Daniel amended himself, getting on a roll, "originally, they were humans taken over by parasites that call themselves the Goa'uld. They enter your body and attach themselves to the brain stem so they can control everything you do and say."

"I still don't understand how you've had time to meet someone, become best friends and more, maybe even be in love, with Steven and I knowing nothing about it," Sarah bitched.

Daniel stood, staring at them as if they were the aliens. "Are you listening to yourselves?"

"I think we deserve a better answer than the one you've given us," Rayner said, backing up Sarah.

"And I think you're both insane," Daniel announced. "And I'm going back to bed."

"Are you in love with him?" Sarah asked stridently. "And if you are, when were you planning on telling me?"

Jack wanted to know the answer to that as well. Not the telling Sarah part, but the love part. He knew Daniel loved him; Jack loved Daniel. That was a given. And while Jack had given a tremendous amount of repressed thought to the topic of taking Daniel to bed, because of their situation in their own reality it wasn't something he'd been willing to pursue.

But things were different now, at least for the time being. They had no way to get home, and Jack had no intention of staying with the military in his previous capacity. He wasn't naïve enough to think he'd ever be entirely free of them; he had too much knowledge not to be useful during this awkward transition of going public with the Stargate, not to mention his knowledge of fighting the Goa'uld. But if he worked for the program it would have to be in a civilian capacity, some sort of advisor, a role that allowed him the freedom to pursue something with Daniel, if that was actually being put on the table.

The look of frustration on Daniel's face was all-encompassing. Jack felt sorry enough for him that he rose to his feet and walked the short distance from where he'd been sitting to join the frozen tableau at the fire pit. 

"Hey," he said guilelessly, "what's going on?"

"We were just asking about you," Sarah said hotly, without a trace of guilt. "We've been friends with Daniel for a long time, and we feel it's our prerogative to find out who you are, why you're here, and what your intentions are."

"Right," Jack said sarcastically. There was a remote possibility that a modicum of truth existed in that statement, but Jack suspected it was sour grapes more than anything else. Both of them were being shut out of the Daniel cookie jar, and they didn't like it. "I'm thinking if I discuss my intentions with anyone, it would be with Daniel and his parents, not you."

"You have intentions?" Daniel asked, with, Jack hoped, a tinge of hopefulness in his tone.

"You betcha," Jack said.

"Really?" Daniel asked again, eyes wide, looking delightedly bewildered.

"I didn't say what those intentions were," Jack said teasingly.

Daniel cocked his head to the side. "You did say they were the sort of intentions one spoke of to the parents of the one toward whom you have intentions."

Oh for a grammar book, Jack thought, and some privacy. He frowned at the two losers sitting by the fire, and they frowned right back. Apparently, they weren't going to relinquish Daniel as easily as Jack hoped. "Walk with me?" he said to Daniel.

"Of course," Daniel said quickly, without a glance at Sarah and Rayner.

"Hey," Rayner protested. "We were talking here."

"We can talk tomorrow," Daniel said over his shoulder. He followed Jack back toward his hiding place, but then Daniel took over, leading them a distance away to a second fire pit that only took a second to stoke into flames. Daniel sat down, patted the sand next to him, and said, "Sit."

Jack sat. "Aren't your feet cold?" he asked, noticing for the first time that Daniel had nothing on his feet.

"Talk to me," Daniel suggested, ignoring the state of his feet. "I don't know how much of that was you causing trouble in front of Sarah and Steve, my own wishful thinking, or the truth."

Jack screwed his face up, having forgotten how much Daniel liked to talk about stuff. 

"Seriously," Daniel continued. "I know we care about each other. A lot. And for myself, you're just about the most important person in my life, but until now, I never got any hint that you were interested in anything more than friendship."

"Just about the most important?" Jack asked indignantly.

Daniel winced a little. "Back home you would have been _the_ most important, but here, well, there're my parents and Rebecca. Don't tell me now you have Charlie back, that he's not the most important person to you."

"I'd say you two vie for first place," Jack said.

Daniel beamed at him. "You, too, Jack."

"Have you thought about it?" Jack asked. "You and me?"

"Not until now," Daniel said honestly. "But, now that we're discussing it, it's hard not to think about it when you are that important to me, and sort of available, and looking, you know, the way you do."

"You think I'm hot?" Jack gloated.

Daniel nodded, blushing enough that even in the firelight Jack could see the color.

"What do you mean sort of available?" Jack asked.

"Well, you're not married," Daniel pointed out.

"True," Jack agreed, "but did you ever get the sense from me that I was gay? Or at least amenable to the idea?" Jack was amenable, but he worked hard on keeping that a deep dark secret.

"No," Daniel said. "Therefore, _sort_ of available."

"Gotcha."

They sat in silence for a while, the fire crackling, the faint sound of voices on the other side of the encampment carrying over to where they were sitting. 

Daniel cleared his throat. "So, intentions? Was that for the benefit of the other Daniel's Sarah and Steven so they'd back off?"

Jack sensed the crossroads in front of him. He could say yes, that it had been to make a point, and Daniel would nod, and smile, and they'd stay friends. Or he could say no, and the potential was there for this to turn into something else, something new, right here, right now.

He ran his fingers through the sand, wondering how his life could change so utterly in one day. "Do you think we'll be able to get back?"

Daniel sighed. "I don't know. I don't know how it could happen at this point. There's no mirror, and neither Thor nor General Hammond consider our predicament a priority. I'm sure Sam and Teal'c will keep looking for a way." There was a pause. "Why?"

"Because there are possibilities here, in this reality, that weren't possibilities in ours," Jack said.

Daniel mulled that one over for a minute, and then said, "You mean us?"

Jack nodded. "Unlike you, I've thought about it a lot." He grinned, and added, "Hard not to when you're just as important to me, and you're sort of available, and you look like you do."

Daniel blushed again, his lips curled up in a shy smile.

It made Jack want to jump him.

"Don't you think you'll end up back at the Stargate program?" Daniel asked. "Can you really walk away from all of that and not help?"

"No," Jack said. "I can't. But I can do it as a civilian. I'll only do it as a civilian. I'm not serving in the military in a universe that's not my own, that allows someone crazy like Carter to walk around with only a single guard to watch over her after she attacked us." He leaned toward Daniel. "And I'm not serving in a military in a universe that's not my own that would tell me that loving you is wrong, and something I could get court-martialed for. I'll take that from my own universe, but not this one."

Daniel's eyes rested affectionately on him, and he shifted a few inches closer until their knees were touching. "Maybe it isn't frowned upon in this universe."

"Everything else seems so much like our own Earth, I'm guessing that is, too," Jack said. "Besides, with Charlie back alive, I've got no business going through the gate. I'd like to think I never would have done it if he hadn't been dead. They chose me originally because they knew I didn't care if I lived or died." He tapped Daniel on the knee with a closed fist. "You turned that around, Dr. Jackson. I don't know if I ever thanked you for that."

Daniel stared at him for a long moment, then said, "May I kiss you?"

Startled, it took Jack a moment to realize that he needed to say something, but all he could manage was a nod, feeling suddenly shy, like some inexperienced kid, having no idea what to do with his hands or how to position his body.

Daniel took care of it. He shifted to his knees and framed Jack's face with his hands. He leaned forward, slowly, and touched his lips to Jack's, just a light touch, then rubbed back and forth, using his tongue to moisten the path they took.

Suddenly Jack knew just what to do as his stomach burst into frantic butterflies and his groin grew heavy. He mimicked Daniel's stance, his hands sliding down Daniel's back, moving the kiss into something serious. Jack's tongue quested for entry and then pushed inside when Daniel's mouth opened in response. 

Daniel let out a groan that made Jack yearn for a nice wide bed with soft sheets and both of them naked and alone. "Jesus, Daniel," he muttered, kissing along Daniel's jaw, shifting his legs so one was between Daniel's knees, leaving Jack with one of Daniel's thighs right where it would do some good.

Then Daniel leaned back, one hand on Jack's chest, not pushing him away, but making it clear that there was going to be a pause in the evening's activities.

"Haven't I made my intentions clear?" Jack said, one hand sliding up Daniel's thigh.

"Yes," Daniel said huskily, stopping the hand from moving any farther up. "I just think that people can say and do things in the middle of the night, by firelight, that can be regretted come the light of day, and I'd rather we stopped here until we've had some daylight to consider what we're doing."

"You mean for me to consider what I'm doing?" Jack asked.

"Mostly," Daniel said, "but me, too. There's a lot we still have to figure out. If you're a civilian liaison, will you be able to live here? Would you expect me to move back to Colorado? What about Charlie and Rebecca?" He put his hand back on Jack's face. "Don't misunderstand me. I want this. I want you. But it needs to be right for both of us. And if I get to have this, get to have you, if we start building a life together, and then Sam and Teal'c find a way to get us home, I don't think I could give you up without a fight."

And there it all was, in Daniel's inimitable way of speaking the truth, slapping it down on the table unavoidably for discussion.

Jack sat back, catching his breath, willing any blood that had traveled south to get back to business in other parts of his body. "I wouldn't ask you to leave here, Daniel," Jack finally said. "This is where you belong on this Earth, reeducating the world about their real history." 

Daniel watched him with somber eyes.

"And I have no intention of leaving you," Jack continued. "So that means that if they want me to be a civilian liaison, I'll do it from here with occasional trips back to the SGC. I think all eyes will be on Egypt for a while, and this place will be where things are happening."

"And Scandinavia," Daniel pointed out. At Jack's blank look, Daniel said, "Asgard. Norse Gods."

"Right, gotcha," Jack said. "Which reminds me, if the Asgard are hanging around for a while, they can just beam me to wherever I need to be."

"Are you so sure you'll be able to set your terms?" Daniel asked. "It seems to me that with the world in such disarray, they probably have the power to force you to serve in whatever capacity the United States government thinks best."

"Too fucking bad," Jack snarled. Not that Daniel was necessarily wrong, but that's how Jack was going to play it, like he was important enough to get his way. There was no freaking way he'd end up separated from Daniel.

Daniel shifted and Jack found himself being hugged. "I'd be insane right now if I was on the other side of the mirror," he said to Jack, hugging him tightly. "Absolutely insane."

"Me, too," Jack said, returning the hug in spades. "Me, too."

* * *

After stumbling back to the tent and into his cot, a depressing several yards away from Daniel's, Jack fell asleep, waking up to the chatter of voices speaking in Arabic. Jack guessed he would have to brush up on his Arabic if he was going to live here. He didn't think knowing Arabic for 'motherfucker' or 'your mother was a goat' was going to cut it.

He sat up, then grunted as Charlie made a flying leap onto the cot with him. "Morning," Charlie said, way too happy for this time of day.

"Mornin'" Jack grunted back. 

"Daniel said we could ride on camels today!" Charlie said excitedly.

"Oh, joy," Jack muttered, feeling the pain already. But he couldn't help but enjoy the delight in Charlie's voice, and it almost took his breath away that Charlie, his son, maybe not his actual son, but close enough as to make no difference at all, was alive, and smiling at him, and thrumming with excitement at what life had to offer him.

"Did Daniel say where we're riding camels to?" Jack asked, sincerely hoping it wasn't across the Sahara desert on some Bedouin trek. He wasn't sure his butt and back were up to it.

"Nope," Charlie said. "Get up." He yanked on Jack's t-shirt.

"He needs coffee," Daniel suggested, suddenly there, and even more importantly, handing over a full cup.

"Thank you," Jack said, heartfelt. He glanced at Daniel in his Egyptian robes, looking entirely at home, and thought to himself that he'd had his tongue in the man's mouth last night. The thought was a little disconcerting, after all this was Daniel, the man he'd had more arguments with than anyone one else in the galaxy, but mostly he just wanted to do it again, daylight or no daylight.

Charlie leaped off the cot, moving to the clothes he'd discarded last night, and changed back into them.

Daniel, on the other hand, was looking a little tense. "Someone's here to see you," Daniel said quietly, and tersely.

"Who?" Jack asked with a scowl.

"Major Kawalsky," Daniel grumbled.

"Oh, boy," Jack said, annoyed that the dance between him and the military had to start so soon. 

Charlie bounded back over, asking Daniel, "Can Rebecca ride camels, too?"

"Of course," Daniel said with a small smile. "Why don't you go ask her? Do you remember where her tent is?"

"Yeah," Charlie said enthusiastically, and bolted from the tent.

"Oh, to have that kind of energy," Jack said as he stood, knees and back creaking. To Daniel, he said, "I hope you realize that I'm not exactly a young stud here." Jack wasn't an insecure man, but thirteen years in age difference was, well, thirteen years. Given the life Jack led, those thirteen years hurt sometimes.

"Thank God for that," Daniel said with a grin. He checked behind him, maybe to see if the tent flap was closed, and then moved closer and touched Jack's graying hair. "You're gorgeous," he said sincerely. "Creaks and all."

"If you really cared," Jack said haughtily, "you wouldn't mention the creaking."

That got a snicker out of Daniel. He sobered up quickly. "What do you think he wants?"

"You know what he wants, Daniel. He's here to take me back, to talk to Hammond."

"Are you going to go?"

"I might as well find out now what they want now."

"What if they don't let you come back?" Daniel asked, the lines in his forehead pronounced with worry.

"They will," Jack said surely. At least he hoped they would. "I really don't think they're going to dump me in a hole and throw away the key." 

"I still think I--"

"I need you to stay here with Charlie," Jack interrupted. "Keep him occupied. I might be gone a couple of days, and I need to know someone's taking good care of him. Please."

Daniel nodded reluctantly. "Keep in touch, though?"

"If you give me a number to call, I'll call it," Jack assured him, not sure what the effect the Goa'uld damage caused in the world's telecommunications. It's not like there was a television in their tent he could turn on to check.

"I'll give you one before you go," Daniel promised. He studied Jack for a moment. "Daylight changing your mind?" he asked abruptly.

"Nope," Jack said. "Just means I get to see you better. Which is a good thing," Jack added, leaning forward to briefly kiss Daniel, "Seeing you, I mean. Don't intend to stop doing that."

"Good," Daniel said fiercely. "I'm going to hold you to that." He backed away. "I'll let you get dressed, there's breakfast out by the fire."

"Is it too much to hope that your two bodyguards are gone?"

A quick smile graced Daniel's face. "No sign of them." With that, he turned and was gone.

Jack stared after him for a moment, then quickly changed into some fresh clothes. There was some sort of water set up, with fresh water in an ewer and a basin, so Jack brushed his teeth and ran wet fingers through his hair to tame it. He eyed Daniel's straight razor and decided he could do without shaving for a day. 

He left the tent and moved to the closest fire pit, which happened to be the one that the Bobbsey Twins had taken Daniel to last night. Kawalsky was in full military regalia, looking awkward standing in the sand. 

"Hey, Kawalsky," Jack said.

"Jack," Kawalsky said cautiously, as if unsure what kind of reception he might get.

"I'm guessing by your getup that you aren't here to pay a social call?" Jack quipped, while he helped himself to some fresh hot bread, some cheese, and a handful of dates. "Hungry?"

Kawalsky shook his head. "General Hammond would like to speak with you," he said.

"Is that a request or an order?" Jack asked. He took a second to silently moan over the cheese and bread. They were delicious; he could totally get used to this.

Hesitating, Kawalsky eyed Jack, but then he grinned. "It's a request if you agree to come."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Are you gonna zat me if I say no, or just beam me up?"

"Are you saying no?"

"Do I get to come back?" Jack inquired oh-so-casually. "My son is here. Daniel's here."

Jack waited for Kawalsky to start going off on the fact that Charlie wasn't really his son, and if he did that, there was no way he'd agree to go anywhere willingly.

"I'm going to say yes, Jack, but the General's the one you really need to ask."

That was promising enough. "How are we getting there?"

Kawalsky held up the oval shaped object the Asgard used to communicate.

That was even better. The last thing Jack really wanted to do was fly commercial. Even a military transport from here to Colorado Springs would take forever. "Let me tell Charlie I'm going."

He got a nod from Kawalsky, who was looking much more relaxed now that Jack hadn't chosen to be a pain in his ass, and he was eyeing the food speculatively. For a second, Jack remembered what a good friend his Kawalsky had been and thought that it wouldn't be too bad to have him as one again.

"Help yourself," Jack suggested, gesturing at the food. To Daniel, who had stayed unobtrusively in the background eavesdropping, he asked, "Where's Charlie?"

He didn't need an answer as Charlie and Rebecca came running and laughing into the fire pit area. Charlie saw Kawalsky and skidded to a stop. "Why's he here?" he asked suspiciously, moving to Jack and pressing close.

Jack ruffled his hair. "Thor's beaming me to Colorado so I can talk to General Hammond. I'll be back, I promise. Daniel's gonna watch out for you while I'm gone. Okay?"

Charlie frowned, clearly not happy.

"Besides, I thought you were going camel riding?"

That brought a happy gleam back to Charlie's eyes. "Yeah!" he said. "You should see them. They spit!"

"Damn, I'm sorry I'm gonna miss that," Jack said sarcastically. 

"When will you be back?" Charlie asked.

"I'll let Daniel know as soon as I know something," he said, glancing at the piece of paper Daniel was shoving under his nose with a number on it. 

"Apparently I have a phone," Daniel said, holding up the object in question.

"Sweet," Jack said. He stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket.

Kawalsky was making rapturous noises as he noshed on the bread and cheese. Jack took some more, deciding he'd eat on the way. Then he kissed Charlie on the top of his head.

Charlie sent him a disgruntled look and said, "Dad!" as if the humiliation was too much to be borne.

Shaking his head, he glanced at Daniel, wishing he could kiss him. "See you soon," was all he said.

"You better," Daniel said sternly.

"Let's get this show on the road," Jack said. There was no one around at the moment other than Daniel and the kids, so he nodded at Kawalsky. Not that it really mattered if anyone saw them leave via Asgard beaming technology. The days of hiding the truth of aliens on Earth were over. 

The beam shot down and the next thing Jack knew he was on Thor's ship. "Hey, Thor," Jack said.

"Colonel O'Neill," Thor said politely. "It is good to see you again. How is Charlie O'Neill?"

"He's good. He would have liked to come along but you came in second to camels, I'm afraid."

Thor blinked at him, then turned to Kawalsky. "I am ready to beam the two of you down whenever it is convenient."

"Just let me finish this," Kawalsky said, his mouth full of the delicious bread and cheese. Jack was doing the same thing. 

Then Jack said, "Can you show me the cities that have been destroyed?" He needed something to make this all more real to him. It was too easy to believe that it hadn't been too bad.

Thor pushed a button and the remains of Los Angeles were on the screen. There were still some buildings standing, but much of it was rubble. The streets were full of people, mostly emergency personnel, but there were a lot of sightseers as well; people who couldn't help but gawk at the scene of an accident. "Jesus," Jack said. 

Washington, DC was next, and Jack could see the White House had taken a hit. "The President?" Jack questioned Kawalsky.

"Alive but seriously wounded. The First Lady's dead, his kids are okay. The Vice President's in charge for the time being, and he's probably at the SGC right now. Anything that happens from here on out," Kawalsky said, "is going to come through us."

Now the pictures were showing Tokyo; it looked like Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan had gone nuts, ripping the city apart. As Thor's camera panned over the Earth, it was clear that the majority of the planet had gone unscathed, with most of the damage in the larger metropolitan cities. Only LA and Tokyo, though, were truly devastated. Jack hoped that as long as most of the world's larger cities were still standing, and the air was clear, all the international banking institutions and companies would help ensure that the financial infrastructure held.

It would be a balancing act, getting the world through this without it resulting in chaos and angry retaliation at a government that had kept all of the Earth's people in the dark about the threat of alien invasion. Opportunists had to be rubbing their hands in glee, already concocting ways to make money out of this misfortune.

And that wasn't even talking about the religious fanatics. Jack could only hope future wars weren't fought over accusations that Jesus or Mohammed was a Goa'uld. Just the thought made him shiver.

"Have you met the Tok'ra yet?" Jack asked Kawalsky.

"The who?"

That answered that question. "How about the Nox or the Tollans? A guy named Bra'tac?"

Kawalsky shook his head. "Is that good or bad that we haven't met them?"

"They're allies. Sort of. You never can really tell with the Tok'ra; they're as likely to screw you as help you. But they do have ships."

"See? This is why we need you," Kawalsky remonstrated.

Jack held his hands out in a classic I-didn't-do-it-I'm-innocent maneuver. "I'm here." He scowled as he remembered something. "Too bad your Teal'c is dead."

"Now _him_ being dead is a good thing," Kawalsky objected.

"Not as good as having a live one who's on your side," Jack contradicted. "But Bra'tac's pretty cool. You guys need to go to Chulak."

"Do you know all these addresses?" Kawalsky was patting his pockets down as if looking for a pad of paper and pencil so he could take notes.

"No, but Daniel does," Jack said. "Memory like a steel trap." He tapped his head. "Mine? Like a steel sieve."

Kawalsky sent him a look that said Jack was full of shit. Jack shrugged. "I really don't know many addresses. That's what Daniel and Carter were for."

"Are you sure--" Kawalsky started.

"Yes," Jack said definitively, just knowing where the man was going. He was like a broken record. "She's a nut."

"She's better. She's sorry," Kawalsky said. "I can't help it. It's just that the two of you? You were great."

"Let it go, Kawalsky," Jack advised. "Not gonna happen."

"I think you're making a mistake."

"And I know I'm not," Jack retorted. "Can we go?" he added impatiently.

"Sure," Kawalsky said peaceably enough. "Would you mind?" he asked Thor.

"I hope to see you again soon, Colonel O'Neill," Thor said, and then he pushed a button that sent the two of them into the conference room at the SGC.

Jack was smirking when they arrived. It seemed like Thors in every universe liked him. And vice-versa.

The General walked into the conference room. Jack saluted, as did Kawalsky.

"At ease, gentlemen," Hammond said. "Colonel, please take a seat. Major," he added, turning to Kawalsky, "that'll be all."

"Yes, sir," Kawalsky said with another salute. He gave Jack a look, sort of like he was telling him to behave, turned sharply, and left the room.

When the door shut behind him, Jack looked at Hammond, waiting.

Hammond slid a file toward him. 

Jack took it but didn't open it. "Am I going to be given a choice, sir?"

A small smile appeared on the general's face. "I believe you made your choice quite clear on this particular matter."

Curiosity piqued, Jack opened the file and find himself staring at divorce papers. Jack didn't think there was anything Hammond could have done to more quickly gain Jack's trust and loyalty. He tapped the papers and smiled wryly at Hammond. "I guess you're a pretty good guy no matter what reality you live in."

"Thank you," Hammond said with an equally wry smile. 

Jack flipped through it and saw it hadn't been signed yet by Carter. "Is this going to be an issue with her?"

"She said she'd sign it if she could speak with you alone first," Hammond said. "Are you willing to do that?"

"Will she be frisked for weapons and C4 first?"

A flicker of sadness passed the general's face. "I know she did badly by you, Colonel, but she's been an invaluable part of our team for a long time, and a good friend. I hold myself responsible for not seeing how badly she was hurting."

Jack sighed. Hammond was another one like Daniel. They both had that heart wrenching sincerity that was hard to take issue with. "I'll talk to her, but I'm not changing my mind."

"I didn't expect you to," Hammond said reasonably.

"Not going to try to talk me into it?" Jack asked guardedly.

Hammond let out a soft chuckle. "No, I'm not. I try not to involve myself in the private affairs of my staff. Even if you were interested, which I recognize you're not, Samantha needs to grieve and move on. It wouldn't be healthy to simply transfer all that attachment to someone who looks like the Jack of our reality. I haven't known you long, but it's clear to me that the two of you are different."

"How so?" Jack asked, curiously.

"Let's just say that he'd never talk back to a General," Hammond said with another small smile.

"Gotcha," Jack said. "Bad habit of mine."

"Believe it or not," Hammond said, "having a second in command that doesn't always agree with you, and is willing to speak his mind, can be very helpful."

Jack thought about his Hammond who had never chastised him for his lax regard for protocol, and had consistently solicited his opinion. "I can't take his place, General, if that's what you're hinting at. I'll help however I can, but I want to be a civilian."

"Is there a specific reason for that?" Hammond asked, looking disappointed, but not particularly surprised.

"Two reasons, actually," Jack said. "Charlie and Daniel."

"Dr. Jackson would be welcome to join us," Hammond said. "I assume the other Dr. Jackson was dead?"

"Dying when we found him. Cave in," Jack said succinctly. He hoped Hammond believed him. Not that Jack wouldn't have considered taking the guy out if necessary, but he hadn't, and that was a good thing. "See, the thing is, General, after Charlie died back in my own reality, I went a little crazy. They asked me to lead the first mission through the Stargate because I really didn't care if I lived or died, and if the mission ended up becoming a suicide mission, it would have worked for all of us."

Hammond's eyes were sympathetic now, and he silently urged Jack to continue.

"I've got a second chance with my son, and I'm not going to risk my life on a daily basis when I have him to go home to."

"Does he know you're not his real father?" Hammond queried.

Jack didn't hear anything threatening in the question. "Yeah, he does. And he doesn't care. He's fine with me being his dad. I think he likes me more," he added proudly, "and I know he likes Daniel more than he ever liked Carter."

Hammond just nodded, as if he was privy to the fact that there had been issues between Charlie and his real father. "Let me just ask you then, Jack, what you'd be willing to do?"

"Be a civilian liaison, along with Daniel. We'd live in Egypt, because that's where you need Daniel. That's where the reeducation of the world is going to be taking place, and there's no one better to do it. People will believe him. While that's going on, assuming you're open for business, we can tell you who your allies and enemies will be and where they are. We can direct you to ships and technology, steer you clear of any traps. I don't need to be here to do that."

"It would be easier if you were," Hammond said.

"I know," Jack said, sorry that he was disappointing the man. "Am I going to have a fight on my hands? Will they let me name my own terms?"

"I don't have an answer for you yet," the general said honestly. "I was asked to meet with you and feel you out. I can tell you there wasn't much support for spending the resources to help you get home, much as I suspected."

Jack shrugged at that. It wasn't much of a surprise.

"There's no doubt that you are considered a valuable resource, more valuable than even the Colonel O'Neill of this reality, as you have much more experience. While Dr. Jackson is an unknown to us, I'll take your word on it that we've ended up with a second valuable resource that can help us as we start to disseminate the information we have at hand."

"And?" Jack prompted. 

"I think that it behooves us not to alienate you any more than we already have. It's understood that you're here because you agreed to help save this Earth, and after you and your team helped to save us, an act of violence was perpetrated upon you by one of us. No one believes that keeping you against your will would convince you to render the assistance we desire."

"Sort of like don't poke a stick at a grizzly bear?" Jack asked.

"Something like that," Hammond said with dry amusement.

"You'll need to meet with Daniel," Jack suggested. "Have some of your brainiacs go meet with him in Egypt. I promise you'll be impressed. He's got degrees in just about everything. He's the one who opened the gate on our side. It took him two weeks to figure it out."

Hammond's eyebrows went up in surprise. "That's impressive."

"Tell me about it," Jack said. "He's more of a whiz kid than Carter. She might have all the scientific knowledge and a gift for taking ideas and making them work, but he's the one who thinks outside the box and comes up with the ideas that end up saving our asses." He leaned forward, enjoying this opportunity to brag about his friend. "He's also the one who wrote all the treaties between us and our allies. He was our first contact specialist, and he knows just about any language you'll come across out there, even the ones that sound like grunts. Send out some linguists to meet with him, too."

Hammond looked a little stunned.

Grinning, Jack said, "Every reality we've gone to that hasn't had a Daniel Jackson was screwed." Granted, it had only been two, but two out of two was still one hundred percent.

"I look forward to getting to know him better," Hammond said sincerely.

"There's another reason I want to go civilian," Jack said carefully.

Hammond looked at him for a long moment. "You and Dr. Jackson?" he finally hazarded a guess.

Jack was glad to see this Hammond was as sharp as his own. "Me and Daniel," Jack agreed.

Hammond's eyes rested on the file in front of Jack, but he didn't say anything. "I understand, and I appreciate you telling me, and will keep it in confidence to the best of my ability."

Jack took a moment to study Hammond, trying to see if this news was unwelcome or repulsive. He was relieved to see that Hammond was able to meet Jack's eyes with no signs of discomfort.

"How long are you keeping me here?" Jack finally asked.

Indicating the file, Hammond said, "You're free to go after you've spoken to Dr. Carter. Major Kawalsky will get in touch with the Asgard as soon as you're ready to return."

"Thank you," Jack said. He hoped Thor stuck around so travel was always this easy. "How's the President? Who is the President?"

"President Hayes is still unconscious. They're not sure if he'll recover. Vice President Woolsey is currently in charge."

"Is he a good guy?"

Hammond nodded. "A bit bureaucratic, but he's thoughtful and not afraid to speak his mind." 

"How's the world doing?"

"Parts of it are in pieces, as you know. The count of those dead or missing is approaching a million. You were right, by the way. Thor did his best to return as many humans back to Earth as he was able from the Goa'uld vessels that were destroyed, but it's just added to the confusion. The loss of life, not to mention irreplaceable art, historical sites and documents, is painfully clear. Trading on the stock market's been stopped, and the National Guard is trying to keep the looting down here at home. Other countries are taking similar care."

"Has anyone gotten really angry and started pointing fingers?" Jack asked. "Was there any international presence here?" 

"There are some scientists here from other countries, but they weren't representing them officially. And no, there's been no public finger pointing, but there will be," Hammond said somberly.

  
"Daniel might be able to help you there, too," Jack offered. "People like him. A lot. I mean, not the Goa'uld, they hated him, but the only reason we ever ended up with allies was because of him."

"It sounds as if we'll be depending on you and Dr. Jackson for a great many things," Hammond said. "Your continued safety and well-being will become of paramount importance to us."

"Don't worry about that," Jack said. "I'll be making sure we stay safe, and if I ever think we need help, you'll be the first to know."

"Fair enough," the general said. He stood, and Jack rose as well. "Thank you for coming to speak with me."

"Thanks for this," Jack said, tapping the file. "We'll do what we can. This is our home now, at least for the time being, and we don't want it to fall apart any more than you do. The last thing we need is for this to cause World War III."

"Agreed." Hammond gestured at the door. "I'll be in touch after I've spoken to Vice-President Woolsey and the remaining Chiefs of Staff. No doubt there will be additional meetings with leaders of other countries."

"Better get a nap first," Jack suggested. 

Hammond chuckled silently. "You're quite different than the Colonel O'Neill of this reality. I believe we'll work well together."

"There are few men I respect more than the General Hammond I worked for," Jack said honestly. "He was a good man, and I suspect you're just like him."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Colonel," Hammond said. With that he opened the door and left.

Jack sat back down, suddenly exhausted. It made him nervous that everything was going so right. It seemed as if there should be more drama going on. Instead he'd eased into a family, a relationship with Daniel, and hopefully a civilian posting, with barely a ripple. He hated to be a pessimist, but Jack couldn't help but wonder when the other shoe was going to drop.

He glanced down at the file. Of course, he had his conversation with Carter to look forward to, and that would probably be painful enough to account for the other shoe. Jack picked up the file but then put it back down. He decided he'd call Daniel first and then go meet with Carter.

* * *

Jack grinned as he hung up the phone. Only Daniel could carry on an intelligible conversation while galloping across the desert on a camel. He'd been able to hear Charlie and Rebecca's screams of delight in the background. Jack wished he was there with them, even if his back and ass would already be killing him.

Carter. He moved to the conference room table and picked up the file. Time to get this over with. Assuming she was probably in the same lab his Carter occupied, Jack headed there.

He wasn't sure if no one stopped him because Hammond had put out the word, or if most of the people here didn't know his counterpart was dead. Either way, he was grateful for not having to stop at every check point and explain what he was doing there.

He could hear voices as he approached Carter's lab and felt a pang of homesickness at hearing the science babble, remembering his own Carter's conversations with her staff. He had to stop for a moment and wonder what the hell he and Daniel were doing.

It wasn't like him to give up so easily; to just decide there was no way home and slide so easily into another life. Jack knew his duty, he'd always known it; and he'd always put it first. He might not have been going through the gate at the time, but he'd taken every assignment the military had thrown at him, and it had kept him away from Charlie more than he'd liked, and it was part of what tore him and Sara apart when Charlie had died. 

It was possible, despite his protestations to Hammond, that he might have joined the Stargate program in spite of being a husband and father. It was deep in his marrow to jump when the military said jump. He decided how high, and how many times, but he still jumped. 

If they really couldn't go back, staying in the military would be readily available to him. They'd take him in a heartbeat, bringing him into the fold, letting him slip into the shoes of this reality's Jack O'Neill, so they could start ordering him to jump again. 

There was a chance, he mused honestly, that if he was on his own, he might be tempted, except for the fact that this world was going to find itself smack in the middle of a bureaucratic nightmare. The Stargate program was going to be focused on politics and the expedient collection of allies.

That sounded exceedingly dull to Jack, even torturous. He'd never been a political animal, and it was only due to the fact he was so damn good at what he did that he'd been promoted to Colonel. He functioned best on the battlefield. Fast decisions, bringing him and his team home alive; that was what he thrived on.

It had been more important to him than Sara. He had loved her, make no mistake about that, but he'd loved his job more. Loved his duty more. More than Sara, even more than Charlie, even though a flush of shame washed through him at the thought. The old saying was true: you don't know what you have until it's gone. After Charlie had died, and he'd lost Sara, he hadn't cared about anything, including his duty. 

But then the Stargate program had come along, and hand-in-hand with that, one Dr. Daniel Jackson, and he'd left Abydos for Earth ready to live again. Looking back, though, Jack realized that he hadn't really come alive again until they'd retrieved Daniel a year later. That was when Jack fully embraced the Stargate program, finding a newly revived excitement, and all his love of career and duty came rebounding back even stronger than before.

Yet, now, he was willing to throw it all away without a backward look. Yes, he'd still be helping, and having a psycho Carter around wasn't exactly an enticement, but he was, for the first time in his life, putting his personal life front and center.

And that was the crux of the matter right there. He was being given a second chance to be a family man again, and he didn't want to blow it. Like the devil in the desert tempting Jesus, he'd been given back his son, had a new daughter, and a partner who knew all the good and bad inside of him and loved him anyway, and he cared more about them than his duty.

Was it so wrong to want that? Part of him thought it was wrong; that he was shirking his responsibility, both toward his own reality, and this one. Otherwise he wouldn't be having this conversation with himself in the middle of a hallway, deep underground.

But he couldn't do it. He couldn't join back up and have to deal with Carter everyday, and live apart from Charlie and Daniel. He couldn't do it. Didn't he have the right, no--the responsibility, to put Charlie first? And if that got him Daniel, too, wasn't that just icing on the cake? That was what his heart yearned for. Hadn't he put enough time in to allow his heart the right to make some decisions for him?

Jack thought he could find a way to have his family and yet do right by this world. The larger issue, the one that bothered him even more, was how easily he was abandoning his old world. 

What would happen to them without him and Daniel? He had told Hammond that all of the realities they'd visited without a Daniel--granted, only two--had been on the path toward destruction. Would that fate now be in store for his Earth without Daniel? Without the two of them? 

What kind of life would his Carter and Teal'c have as they tried to find them without success, no doubt feeling as if they were failing their teammates, little knowing that the two of them were happy and in love and, at least for Jack, living a life he'd only dreamed of. It felt, just a little, like a betrayal of the remaining two members of his team. Not to mention Hammond, Ferretti, Fraiser, and all the other people who'd come to depend on Jack's leadership and Daniel's clever brain and silver tongue to get them through one scrape after another.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Because even if he could go back, if Thor contacted him and told him he'd found another quantum mirror, would Jack go? He was reasonably sure that Daniel wouldn't want to go, not if he had to leave Rebecca and his parents behind. It was conceivable Daniel could bring them all with him, after all his parents had been dead for so long, with new names it would be unlikely that they'd be recognized by anyone. And finding an excuse for Rebecca's existence would be a piece of cake.

But to what life would he be bringing them? Jack knew Daniel wouldn't go on missions through the gate, not with a child depending on him. So, he'd be stuck under the mountain doing translations. His parents wouldn't be happy unless they got to go back to Egypt, but they knew too much now. They'd be stuck the same way Daniel was stuck, pretending they didn't know the truth, having to perpetuate the lies of history.

And Charlie? How to explain Charlie? It would be beyond cruel to bring him back and not let Sara in on the miracle. Jack didn't think he could do it, even if ordered to. And would Jack still go through the gate on missions? Without Daniel? Knowing that every time he did, there was a chance he wouldn't come back? Counting on Daniel to play replacement dad, or turning Charlie over to Sara, and being the divorced dad who got to see his son once every two weeks, assuming he was on Earth when it was his weekend.

Last but not least, there was Daniel. He and Daniel could be together here. If they went back, unless he quit the military, Jack would have to give that up. He couldn't be loyal and true to his duty, and then slink around consistently breaking regulations, when no one's life was hanging in the balance. It would eat away at him, and it would end up tearing him and Daniel apart.

He'd have to resign and, if he was lucky, perhaps he could have a role similar to the one he wanted here: civilian military liaison. Go live somewhere with Daniel and Charlie and Rebecca, visiting Egypt and Claire and Mel whenever they could. Jack let the idea of that life sink in, and discovered that his life here felt more real, and more wonderful, than any pipedream he could manufacture on his own world. 

Claire and Mel probably wouldn't even want to go. This Daniel wasn't really their son, as much as they'd eagerly taken him in. And they might not let him take Rebecca, because she wasn't really Daniel's daughter, while she was their grandchild. And if they didn't go, Daniel wouldn't either. Well, that wasn't necessarily true, because Jack knew Daniel loved him, and he might choose to go home with Jack, even if he'd be miserable there.

Crap, Jack thought to himself. No wonder he was holding on tight to this new life, finding it relatively easy to leave the old one behind. Here he was happy. Back home, not so much. He didn't want to go home; and he'd be happy never going home if he could just get a message to Carter and Teal'c that he was fine, and for them to move on. Even better, he could triple zat this Carter, and his Carter and Teal'c could join them here. Heaving a sigh, he walked the short distance to his destination and stuck his head in the door.

She was in the middle of a conversation with two men, both in lab coats. This time there was no one guarding her, which annoyed Jack to no rnf. "Carter," he said sharply, to get her attention.

"Jack," she said brightly, giving him a smile. "Let's finish this later," she told the two men, who nodded, and with a last look at Jack, left them alone. Carter moved to shut the door. "Thank you for coming by."

Jack stared at the closed door. "General Hammond said you wouldn't sign the papers if I didn't come talk to you first. So, here I am." He had no intention of making this a friendly visit.

She frowned a little, but then her head sagged in defeat. "All right. I deserve that. I can't explain what happened to me. I've always been the most rational person I know. I guess I just snapped. It's terrifying to discover I have that potential for violence in me."

Jack tapped the file against his thigh, hoping she'd be done soon.

"I know that no apology can undo what I've done," she said sincerely, "and I wish I could go back and have the chance to do what I should have done, just say goodbye and let you go." She reached out and gently touched his arm.

Steeling himself to stay put, Jack suffered the quick touch.

"Is Dr. Jackson okay?" she asked. "I know how painful those tremors are."

"He's fine," Jack said shortly.

"So, the other Daniel Jackson of this reality is dead?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes," Jack said, keeping the details to himself. Then, his store of patience exhausted, he said, "Thanks for the apology. Will you sign the papers?"

"I know you're angry, and you have every right to be, and I know it will be hard working here with me, but I do hope we can at least be friends, in time."

"Don't count on it," Jack retorted. He held out the papers. 

"What about our home?" she asked, touching him again, her fingers resting on his arm now. 

"Keep it," he assured her. "I don't need any of it."

"Jack," she started, her voice plaintive.

He shook his head. "Let's not go there," he cautioned her, stepping back so her hand fell off his arm. He glanced around the lab, so much like his Carter's. "Is there another way to get us home?" His concern over his Carter and Teal'c forced him to ask.

"Not without another quantum mirror," she answered. "At least nothing I know of. Did you ever run across anything else that bridged realities?"

"No." Jack paced around her office a little. "And you said you got your mirror on that 233 planet?"

"Yes," she said. "It was in a large storeroom of artifacts."

"Crap," Jack said. "Did you bring everything back from that place?"

"No," she said. "There was too much to carry, and it wasn't long after that that we realized the Goa'uld were on their way."

"Is it possible there might be a second one there? Or that we might get some kind of reading from where it was that would help us track down another one?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I suppose we could go check." She reached out to touch him again, as if she couldn’t stop herself, but she pulled her hand back before making contact. "I really am sorry."

He didn't want to forgive her, despite the fact that in some ways, she might have done him a favor. "I'll talk to Hammond. I want Daniel to come with us."

"Why?" she asked sharply.

"Because he's the one who found it in the first place, and he's got a wacky way of figuring things out."

"I think you and I and Major Kawalsky could go without him," she said stiffly. "My Jack always used to count on me to figure things out."

Jack felt like telling her that it hadn't done much good because her Jack was dead, but he couldn't bring himself to be quite that cruel. "I'd feel better having Daniel watch my back," he said. "No offense, Carter, but you and Kawalsky aren't exactly invested in getting me home."

Anger flashed in her eyes, but she pulled it together. "Let me know if the General approves us going."

He held out the file. "Sign."

She took the file, but hesitated. "Are you sure you don't want to wait? Your Samantha said this wasn't the first world where the two of us were together, and I'm sure she had feelings for you. If you could find a way to forgive me, you might find that--"

"Sign," he said harshly. "That's all I want from you."

Her eyes bright with tears, she nodded, moving to a counter. Finding a pen, she opened the file and signed at all the indicated spots. When she was done, she handed it back. "If it's all right with you," she said tremulously, "I'd like to remain hopeful that there might come a day when we really can at least be friends."

"Don't hold your breath," he muttered, as he took the file back. "I'll let you know what Hammond says." With that, he opened the door and left her lab, feeling better with every step he took away from her.

* * *

Daniel handed the camels off to the young boy who took care of them, slipping him a sizeable tip. Charlie and Rebecca were slap-happy with how much fun they'd had, giggling madly and weaving like a pair of drunks. Claire walked out of her tent and started to laugh when she saw them. "All right, you two," she called, "time to have some lunch and calm down." She smiled brightly at Daniel. "Looks like you had fun, too."

"I did," he said, and then moving closer to her, said more quietly, "I haven't ridden a camel in years. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it."

"You'd never know it had been a while," she mentioned, just as quietly, "you rode like a pro."

The kids were easily directed into the shady, cool tent, and an Egyptian woman brought out a platter of juices, bread, and cheese. Charlie and Rebecca happily dug in.

Daniel watched them fondly, already head over heels in love with both of them. He and Sha're had never been able to conceive, although he'd loved the other children on Abydos. After Sha're had been taken, Daniel had never imagined having another wife, let alone a family. 

For the first time, Daniel realized that staying here meant he could no longer search for her. It also made him wonder if the Sha're of this reality was still alive. He was tempted to find out just so he could make sure she never got taken by Apophis. 

He was ashamed that he hadn't given her a thought until now. Not that he'd had a lot of free time since he'd arrived in this reality so precipitously, but she was so often still in his thoughts, or had been back on the other Earth. Now, the space she usually occupied was crowded with Jack. He had loved Jack for so long. Not that way, not sexually, but Jack, from the moment things had started going downhill on Abydos, had become important to him in a way he'd seldom experienced with anyone. Once he'd come back to Earth, that had only grown. Jack was the center around whom Daniel orbited. 

Daniel sat cross-legged on the floor, reaching for some bread and cheese. Now his connection to Jack was deeper than ever. While it was true he hadn't thought himself attracted to Jack, it had taken exactly one line from Jack's lips about intentions to get Daniel to sit up and take notice. It had taken him about five seconds to slip from platonic to wanting. Maybe it was just that he wanted anything Jack would give him; wanted Jack anyway he could have him.

If Sha're were standing here in front of him, and he had to choose between her and Jack, however much it made his stomach twist with guilt, he'd choose Jack. 

Another platter of food descended onto the table, shish-kabobs with chunks of lamb and vegetables. A serving bowl of couscous joined the platter.

Still deep in thought, Daniel chose a kabob and a couple of heaping serving spoonfuls of couscous. He'd always loved Egyptian food. He absently smiled at Charlie, glad to see he seemed to like it, too.

His phone rang, and he struggled to get it out of his pocket. "Hello?" 

"Daniel," Jack's voice came across the line.

"Hey!" Daniel said, pleased to hear from him, wishing he was already home. "What's up?"

"I need you here for something. Can you leave the kids with your parents and join me?" Jack snorted. "Man, did that sound like we're married or what?"

"At least you didn't ask me to pick up some milk on the way home," Daniel said with a smile.

"Yeah, from the local yak store."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "They have cows here." Then, teasingly, he added, "Although that was camel milk in your coffee this morning."

"Ack," Jack complained. "Don't tell me that stuff."

"What's going on? Why do you need me?" Daniel asked.

"I can't tell you on the phone. Thor's all ready to beam you up."

Daniel leaned toward Claire. "Jack needs me for something. Would you mind watching the kids for a while?"

She gave him a worried look, but patted him on the arm. "I'd be glad to. Is everything all right?" Then, more quietly, "You will be coming back, won't you?"

"Yes," he said firmly. "I will be." He'd already felt guilty about Sam and Teal'c, and now he felt guilty about Sha're, but right now, none of that was as important to him as his newly found family. He just hoped to God that Jack didn't find a way home and ask Daniel to come with him; Daniel wasn't sure what he'd say. 

To Charlie and Rebecca, he said, "Hey, I have to join Jack for a while. Grandma Claire said she'd watch over you. That all right with you both?"

Rebecca nodded easily. Charlie nodded but looked worried. "You're coming back? You and dad?"

"I'll let you ask him that yourself," Daniel said, handing the phone over to Charlie.

"Hey, dad," Charlie said. Whatever Jack said in return made him smile. "You're coming back?" The smile was brighter this time. "Yeah, we had fun." There was a pause. "Okay, say hey to Thor for me." He handed the phone back to Daniel. 

"I guess I'm ready," Daniel said. Apparently that was all Jack was waiting for because he felt himself immediately caught in an Asgard beam. He heard his mom say, "Good Lord!" and then he was on the ship.

"You could have waited until I was somewhere alone," Daniel complained, even as his heart gave an embarrassing leap in his chest at seeing Jack.

"Didn't want to wait," Jack said, as he pulled Daniel into a hug. 

Daniel sank into it happily. "You okay?" he murmured into Jack's ear.

"I am now," Jack said.

Daniel found himself smiling like an idiot. He pulled back to find Thor staring at them. "Hi, Thor," he said.

"Dr. Jackson, it is good to see you again," Thor said. "When you are ready, I will beam you to your destination."

Daniel would have liked to have some private time with Jack, but hopefully there'd be time for that later. "Anytime," he said. He'd barely taken a step away from Jack so they wouldn't appear in each other's arms, when the beam sent them down.

They ended up in the conference room, where General Hammond, Major Kawalsky, and Samantha Carter were waiting. Daniel glanced at Jack to see how he was feeling about her close proximity, but he was ignoring her. He smiled at them all and at the General's invitation, sat.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked.

Jack sat next to him, and Daniel couldn't help but notice that this Sam didn't seem very happy about that. He noticed an empty chair next to her, no doubt where her Jack used to sit, and Daniel felt a pang of pity for her. He'd be faring no better if he'd lost Jack.

"We need to go back to that 233 planet," Jack said. 

"You mean P3R-233?" Daniel asked.

"That's the one," Jack agreed.

"Why?"

"Because maybe there's another quantum mirror there," Jack said, "or something else we can use to communicate with home."

Daniel was surprised at how resistant he was to the idea of home being anywhere but back in Egypt. "I don't think there'll be a second one," Daniel said.

"Why not?" Dr. Carter asked.

"Sam, my Sam," he clarified, "told me that the mirrors caused a distortion in the space time continuum, and conjectured that having two mirrors in close proximity, both directed toward different realities, would be--" He hesitated as if searching for the right word.

"A bad thing?" Jack guessed.

Daniel nodded. "A very bad thing."

"We need to look anyway," Jack said, his eyes on Daniel.

Daniel wished he and Jack had had a chance to talk about their feelings about being stranded here. "I thought the Stargate had been shut down," he said to Hammond.

"It was," Hammond agreed. "I was able to talk them into one last mission. Not that the Vice President or Chiefs of Staff are happy at the thought of possibly losing the two of you, but they do understand that you have a world of your own you'd like to return to. They approved this one search."

He didn't need to add that further missions wouldn't be wasted on finding them a quantum mirror. "When do we go?" Daniel asked.

"As soon as we gear up," Jack answered him. "With your permission, sir?" he asked Hammond.

"You have a go," Hammond told him.

* * *

Jack helped Daniel with one of his straps as they stood in the gate room. 

"Feels like old times, doesn't it, Colonel?" Kawalsky said.

"Different Jack," Jack reminded him. "The Kawalsky I knew died over two years ago." He smiled at Charlie to soften his words. He had missed the man more than he'd expected.

"Still feels good," Kawalsky insisted.

"Last time," Jack said. "After this I'm resigning my commission, and I'll be plain old Jack O'Neill."

"What?" Carter asked unhappily. "You can't."

"Oh, yes, I can," Jack assured her. 

"But we need you here," she protested.

"I'll still be available as a civilian liaison," he said. 

"You'll be living here in Colorado Springs?" she asked, as if she was about to offer him to live in their house, no doubt in their bed, with her.

"No," he said. "Egypt. With Daniel and the kids." He grinned at Daniel. "Still sounds funny."

Daniel grinned back, letting out a laugh. "You should have seen them today."

Jack found himself staring at Daniel; he couldn't remember the last time Daniel had actually laughed. A real laugh. It looked good on him. Jack didn't miss the angry look Carter shot Daniel's way. 

The chevrons started encoding, and Jack prepared himself to go through the Stargate. When the event horizon settled, Jack led them through the gate back to 233.

* * *

"Nothing," Daniel said indignantly as they swept the last room. 

"No kidding," Jack said. Daniel meant that literally. Someone had been by since the last time and emptied the place out. Room after room of nothing but empty tables and counters. His stomach was worn out dealing with the anticipation of finding something in each room he entered, only to deal with twin feelings of relief and disappointment when it came up empty. Mostly relief if he was going to be honest with himself. Maybe the guilt would cut him some slack seeing as he had at least _tried_ to find a way home.

Carter and Kawalsky were sweeping the other side of the storeroom, but Jack suspected they wouldn't find anything either. In fact, he was sure enough about it that he didn't feel the need to double check.

"Would you mind if I said I was relieved?" Daniel said. "Even if it makes me feel guilty?"

"Welcome to the club," Jack said tersely. "You get that I had to try, right?"

Daniel nodded. "Yeah. I'm glad. If Sam and Teal'c ever do find us, I'd hate to have to tell them that we didn't try at all."

"I guess we need to leave it in their hands. If anyone can figure out how to get in touch with us, it will be those two."

"They won't give up, you know," Daniel said.

"I know," Jack said somberly. "I almost wish we were miserable. It would make me feel less guilty."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I can make you miserable, if it would help."

Jack scowled at Daniel. "I'll pass, thanks. Although I have no doubt you'd do a stellar job at it."

Daniel objected to that comment with a disgruntled huff. Jack grinned, then snuck in for a quick kiss.

Carter chose that exact moment to come around the corner. She let out a gasp. "Him?" she asked Jack accusingly.

"Him," Jack said. "Different realities, Carter." Maybe she'd leave him the hell alone now.

If looks could kill, the icy glare she was directing at Daniel right now would have cleaved him in two. Jack couldn't wait to get Daniel away from her and back to Egypt.

Kawalsky jogged up to them. "Nothing?"

"Nothing," Jack said.

"This was a bust," Kawalsky said brusquely. Then, to Jack, he said slyly, "Looks like you're stuck with us." He shot a look toward Carter as if marital bliss was on the horizon.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Let's get back. My kids are waiting for me."

"Kids?" Carter asked snippily. 

"Yeah," Jack said. "Charlie and Rebecca. Rebecca's Daniel's kid from a previous marriage."

"So she's not really yours," she pointed out. "Neither of them are really yours."

Deciding to ignore her, Jack gestured for Daniel to use the DHD. As he was dialing, Carter moved next to him. "I don't understand. Why him?"

"Carter," Jack said wearily. "Leave it alone. What I do with my life from here on out is absolutely none of your concern. Is that clear?"

Hurt, anger, and frustration raced across her face. She was spared having to answer as the wormhole kerwhooshed into existence. Jack made sure Daniel was next to him as he walked through the event horizon.

* * *

It was dinnertime when they got back to Egypt, and they ate with Claire and Mel, along with the kids. Jack noticed that the two of them had a nice-sized bed. He'd have to get one of those for him and Daniel. He probably needed to have a talk with Charlie first, though. And maybe he and Daniel ought to have sex, first, too, just to make sure they weren't totally incompatible. After all, they'd only shared one kiss. That's it. It had been a really great kiss, but one kiss was maybe not enough to be making assumptions regarding living quarters.

He also wasn't quite sure how they were going to do more than kiss given the current sleeping arrangements. It's not like he was about to get naked with Daniel with Charlie only a few feet away.

"Jack," Daniel said, interrupting Jack's focus on future living plans.

"Yeah? What?"

"My parents are going to watch the kids tonight," Daniel said in a low voice. 

"That," Jack said with great gusto, "is a fabulous idea. I like the way you think." He shot Daniel an approving grin. 

"We need to talk," Daniel said with a nod as if he was agreeing with Jack, or Jack was agreeing with him.

"Talk?" Jack said, aghast. "What about?" 

Daniel looked at him as if he were something to be deeply pitied. "What about? What do you think, Jack?"

"I think," Jack said, leaning in closer, his voice even quieter, "that we have better things to be doing together than talking."

A very becoming red flushed Daniel's cheeks. "Oh."

Jack shared a lopsided grin. "Yeah, oh."

Daniel's brows furrowed. "We still need to talk."

"Oh, we will," Jack promised. It might all be words like: 'do that again' or 'harder, harder', but it would definitely be talking.

Daniel was looking suspiciously at him now.

Jack put on his best innocent look. "Can we go?"

Looking down at his full plate, Daniel frowned. "I haven't eaten yet."

"We'll take it to go." He grabbed Daniel's plate along with his silverware. "Come on."

"Jack," Daniel protested.

Jack smiled at Claire, yelled goodnight to Mel, Charlie, and Rebecca, and headed for the tent door, trusting that Daniel would follow him. There were a few grumbled complaints behind him but, sure enough, Daniel followed him outside.

They walked in silence to their shared tent, Jack focusing on Daniel's silverware not taking a dive into the sand. When they arrived at their tent, Jack stood there, waiting for Daniel to open it up. When Daniel scowled at him, Jack said, "What? My hands are full."

Another sigh, but Daniel opened the flap and gestured grandly for Jack to precede him in. Jack did so, putting the plate down on the nearest flat surface. He spun around, got his hands on Daniel's shoulders and then stopped, frowning.

"What now?" Daniel said.

"There're no walls. How can I push you up against a wall and have my way with you when there aren't any walls? I need walls."

"Are you incapable of having sex without being a Neanderthal?" Daniel asked.

"Hey! I have great wall technique," Jack countered.

"I’m sure," Daniel assured him, none too believably. He moved to his cot and sat down. "We really do need to talk."

"Shit," Jack said. He should have just pushed Daniel down to the ground. Now he'd lost all his momentum. "Fine," he pouted, sitting on the cot next to Daniel. "Talk."

Daniel stared at him.

"Not hearing anything, Jackson."

"It's just…" Daniel stopped, clearly stymied.

"I really don't think we need to talk about this," Jack said. "Like you said, no one's going to let us search this galaxy for another mirror. I could spend the next ten years of my life working at the SGC, assuming gate travel is approved again, go on countless missions in the vain hope that I find a mirror, and hope like hell I don't die before I do. Is that what you want me to do?"

"No, I never said--"

"And maybe we have gotten pretty settled here pretty fast," Jack interrupted, not wanting to let Daniel get a full head of steam; he was afraid he'd never get horizontal. "But, if someone could have asked for what we wanted most, here it is, right? I mean, Charlie, Rebecca, your parents, you back in Egypt but being able to tell the truth, you, me, us. It's what you want, right?"

"Yes," Daniel said, "I just--"

"And yeah, I get that maybe it's a little selfish, but it's kind of stupid to feel guilty about something we can't do anything about, right?"

"Right," Daniel agreed, "I only--"

"And yeah, I know the people we left behind are probably going crazy. I know we would be, if it had been Teal'c and Carter who'd gotten kidnapped by an insane Daniel Jackson."

"Hey," Daniel protested.

"Although, I'm sure even an insane Daniel Jackson would have wanted _me_ , not Carter or Teal'c, so we'd probably still sort of be together, in a really warped kind of way."

"Jack."

"But, never mind," Jack said with a little wave of his hand in the air. "The point I'm making is that we just have to wait and let Carter and Teal'c find us, and then we'll have to figure out what the hell to do, because," Jack took a deep breath, "I don't want to leave. Do you?"

Daniel opened his mouth.

"I mean, I should, right?" Jack continued. "I should want to go home, because it's my Earth, and my people, and they probably need us, but I like it here. I like being with you, assuming we can ever actually get to the sex," he added snidely, "with all the talking you always want to do, but it would be hard to leave this. Really, really hard." He stopped and let out a sigh. He stared at Daniel who was gaping at him. "Well?" Jack said irritably. "You said you wanted to talk. So talk."

Daniel closed his eyes and shook his head, before reopening them. "Are you done?"

"Done what?"

"Talking?" Daniel said.

"You're the one who wanted to talk," Jack said defensively.

"I actually wanted to talk about Sam, Dr. Carter," Daniel corrected himself.

"Ew," Jack said. "What about her?"

"She wasn't very happy about you and me. Could she make trouble for you?"

"Nah," Jack said. "I'm a civilian now. She's got nothing to do with me."

Daniel stared at the rug-covered ground. 

Jack waited to see what he was going to say. Wondered if Daniel would mind if he tumbled him down onto the cot. 

"You really don't want to go home?" Daniel finally asked in a small voice.

"I'm feeling guilty as hell about it, but yeah, I really don't want to go home." 

"If we don't go back, I'll never be able to find Sha're," Daniel said quietly.

"Crap," Jack said. He'd forgotten all about that. Suddenly the idea of him and Daniel felt a little less possible. "Daniel--"

Daniel raised a hand and put his fingers over Jack's lips. "Don't. You talked about guilt, and I have my share, too. I realized today that if I had to choose between you and her, I'd choose you." He shook his head. "I love you, Jack. And I love her, too, but not the way I love you. And I don't need her the way I need you." He let his fingers drop away.

Jack had to close his eyes against the emotions Daniel's words evoked. He'd had a few people tell him they loved him in his lifetime, but none of them meant as much. He shifted until he was facing Daniel. "Can I kiss you this time?"

Daniel nodded, although he looked more distressed than anticipatory.

Jack got that. He got the guilt. It was sort of like survivor's guilt; here they were--happy--while others suffered. It was hard to accept that there really wasn't anything they could do; and simply accepting it seemed wrong, like they should be railing against their fate. Jack was grateful that there wasn't anything reasonable they could do about it, because the guilt was strong enough that he'd have to try if there was. But going on missions in the hope of finding a needle in a haystack wasn't his idea of reasonable.

"All I know," Jack said, as he shifted his legs around Daniel, so he could pull Daniel closer, "is that we are stuck here, and we got damn lucky that here is good." He ran his thumb over Daniel's lips, followed it by a series of kisses from one corner of Daniel's mouth to the other. "Better than good, because we have each other." He caught Daniel's lower lip with his teeth, and then worried it with his tongue. "Because, trust me, if I was here alone, if you were on the other side of our non-existent mirror, even with Charlie here, it would suck a whole lot more."

He cupped the sides of Daniel's face with his hands, and kissed Daniel like he really meant it. Daniel's mouth opened under his, and Jack savored the feel of Daniel's wet mouth and tongue, the twist and dance of their tongues as they mated, and the sound of their fevered breathing.

  
Daniel laid back and Jack followed him, getting their legs sorted out, until Jack lay fully on top of Daniel, exulting in the feel of that strong hard body beneath him. 

"Dad?"

"Shit," Jack cursed, letting his head drop to Daniel's shoulder. "We are never going to have sex. Ever." He'd forgotten what it was like trying to have sex with Sara with Charlie around.

He shifted to the side and turned to the door. "Yeah, Charlie, what is it?"

"I just wanted to say goodnight."

Jack let out a short quiet laugh. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Dad. 'Night, Daniel."

"Goodnight, Charlie," Daniel said.

"Won't that cot break with both of you on it?" Charlie asked, a suspicion of amusement in his voice.

"Goodnight, Charlie," Jack said a little more firmly.

There was the sound of children laughing, and then running feet heading back to the other tent.

"Your daughter put him up to that," Jack announced.

"She did not," Daniel defended her.

"Oh, yes, she did. This had Eve and the apple written all over it. Your daughter's already got Charlie wrapped around all ten of her fingers."

Daniel grinned. "Can I help it if O'Neills are helpless against the irresistible Jackson charm?" He snickered. "At least we weren't naked."

Jack shook his head in dismay. "Do we _ever_ get to stay someplace with real doors and a lock?"

Daniel ran a hand down Jack's side until his fingers rested on Jack's hips. "Not really. Sorry about that. Everyone just learns to respect everyone else's privacy. Of course," he added with a grin, "kids are going to be kids."

Jack took Daniel's hand from his hip and kissed his fingers, one at a time. "I’m sorry about Sha're."

"Me, too," Daniel said. "And I’m sorry about Sam and Teal'c. But you're right. It's stupid to be miserable with guilt when I suddenly feel like the luckiest man in the world. Both worlds." He suddenly rolled out of bed.

"Hey!" Jack yelled. "Where do you think you're going?"

Daniel moved to the door and began to tie it shut, something Jack didn't even know it could do. "Just in case our kids decide to be imps, I thought I'd make sure they can't just barge in here."

"Great idea," Jack said, as he pulled off his t-shirt. He looked down and saw that he was still wearing his dog tags. He grabbed them and held them, reluctant to take them off.

"You can leave them on," Daniel said, moving back onto the cot with him. "You can always leave them on if you want." He grinned naughtily and said in a mock-breathless tone, "You'll always be the big bad Colonel to me." He batted his eyelashes.

Jack snorted, but he left the tags on.

* * *

When Jack woke up there was a furnace lying next to him. His first inclination was to push it away, but then he realized that the furnace was none other than Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Jack couldn't keep the grin off his face. 

He might be thirteen years older than his bed partner, but Jack had done himself proud. Jack hadn't ever slept with a man other than Daniel, but he'd thought about it and even read about it every now and then, and all the research had paid off. No complaints from the peanut gallery of any kind. There had, on the other hand, been a lot of heavy breathing, and grunts and groans, and just the memory of their night together made his groin heavy.

They'd ended up on the ground on a pile of pillows and blankets, because the sexual gymnastics had exhausted the cot space within a couple of minutes. Jack shifted until he could see Daniel better. He was lying on his back, one hand over his head, the other across his chest. Love bites were scattered over his chest and lower, although most of those were covered by a blanket. 

Jack plucked at the blanket, pulling it ever so gently down, down, down, until Daniel's family jewels were on display. The man was eye-catching, Jack had to admit. Beautiful face with a body to match, and the fact that his soul and heart were just as beautiful made Jack feel like he'd won the lottery.

He'd fucked Daniel last night, and while he was more than happy to return the favor, Jack thought he might as well take advantage of the fact that Daniel was probably still a little slippery. He pulled the blanket off of Daniel completely, staying still as Daniel let out a small noise of complaint. Instead of waking up, Daniel turned on his side away from Jack.

Jack grinned. Perfect. He put a hand on Daniel's hip, and when he still didn't wake, slid it down over one ass cheek, letting two fingers rest over the furled entrance. As he pressed in lightly, Daniel let out another small noise, but this one wasn't a complaint. Jack wasn't sure Daniel was awake yet, but his body was ready to play.

The hole opened easily, still stretched and lubricated from only a few hours before. Jack's two fingers easily slid in.

A louder noise came from Daniel and he shifted a little, pushing back, causing Jack's fingers to slip in further. "Hmm," Daniel said, sounding sleepily blissful.

Jack leaned down and kissed Daniel's hip, his fingers stroking in and out, brushing against Daniel's prostate, causing more contented and sexy noises. "You awake yet?" Jack asked softly.

"Hmm," Daniel said again, then, "Oh, oh, do that again."

Jack complied, touching the magic spot once more. "That, you mean?" he teased.

Daniel's hand moved down to touch himself, his fingers wrapping around his fully erect cock. Jack leaned over a little more so he could watch. His own cock was full and aching.

Jack found the small bowl of lubricant and slicked up his cock. With no further ado, he pulled out his fingers and, positioning himself, slid inside.

One hand still on his cock, Daniel's other hand moved back to grab at Jack's hip, encouraging him to move closer, thrust harder. Jack was happy to obey; in fact, he pushed Daniel onto his stomach and got him up on his knees, so Jack could get at him unimpeded. He let Daniel continue to stroke himself so Jack could keep his rhythm steady and strong, both hands on Daniel's hips as leverage. 

Daniel was moaning a gaspy litany that sounded like a steady stream of deities, and then he was coming, and the spasms tightened around Jack's cock, causing him to come, pushing into Daniel as hard as he could as he ejaculated deep inside. Unceremoniously, he collapsed on top of Daniel. The guy was young; he could handle it.

"Ugh," Daniel said reproachfully, smooshed underneath Jack. "Get off."

"Can't," Jack said succinctly. "Dead."

Daniel bucked up and Jack slid off. As long as Jack didn't have to do any actual moving on his own, he was all right with that. He lay there, next to Daniel, focusing on breathing, feeling the post coital lassitude creep over him. Nothing was better than this, especially when he could feel Daniel relaxing by his side, no doubt slipping into his own sex coma.

A while later, although Jack really had no idea how much later, he woke back up. Daniel was still crashed next to him. It made Jack feel good that he'd exhausted his younger lover. Jack looked around the tent and frowned. "Hey," he said, tapping Daniel's ass. "What's a guy gotta do to get a real shower?"

"Communal," Daniel said.

"What?"

Daniel let out a sigh and opened his eyes, flipping over so he could look up at Jack. "Communal showers."

"That's what I thought you said," Jack objected. He pointed at their bodies. "They're gonna know what we've been up to," he said. He had as many love bites as Daniel.

"Not that communal," Daniel explained. "They have stalls."

"But I bet we can't take a shower together, can we?" Jack said wistfully.

"You can't possibly want more sex," Daniel blurted, his eyebrows dancing on his forehead. 

"Maybe not now, but I will later," Jack assured him. 

Daniel reached up, got a hand in Jack's hair and tugged him down.

"Ow," Jack said, although he gave in gracefully, and met Daniel's lips with his own.

"If you want to take a shower together," Daniel said, "we'll take a shower together. We'll have to go late at night, though, when no one else is using it. Egypt has its share of homosexuals," he added, "but it's no different here, attitude-wise, than anyplace else."

"Gotcha," Jack said. 

"Most of them won't care," Daniel explained, "but they won't want to see it. For the most part, no one will notice anything, because Egyptian men touch each other a lot. No one will think it odd if we hug or even kiss, as long as it's a quick one."

"No tongues?"

Daniel grinned at him. "No tongues. Not in public anyway."

"Rayner didn't seem to have a problem shoving his tongue in your mouth," Jack pointed out.

"I know," Daniel said, screwing his mouth up. "Maybe I really am a slut, here--a bisexual slut--and nobody cares." He shrugged.

"Yeah, well, your whoring days are over, Jackson," Jack said sternly.

Daniel laughed out loud, another one of those laughs that Jack had never heard before they'd come here. He kissed Jack again, said, "That was a nice wake-up call, thanks." Then he sat up, looked down at himself and said, "We stink. We really need a shower."

"That's why I asked," Jack said.

Daniel reached around for a shirt and wiped himself with it; he handed it to Jack to do the same. "Grab a robe; I'll show you where the showers are."

Jack wiped himself down, balled the shirt up and tossed it a few feet away. "How does laundry get done, by the way?"

"There are Egyptian women who do it for a small fee," Daniel said.

"How do you know all this?"

"I asked my mom," Daniel said with a grin.

  
"Thank God for moms," was all Jack could say. He stood up and put on a robe. "I don't actually have to wear this all the time, do I?"

"Yes," Daniel said. "They stone anyone who wears Western dress."

His voice was so serious, Jack did a double-take, but then he saw the twinkle in Daniel's eyes. "Ha ha." He grabbed underwear, jeans and a T-shirt. "You ready?"

Daniel nodded, although he did grab a robe.

"No undies?" Jack asked.

"No undies," Daniel said with a grin.

"Sweet." Easy access.

* * *

A week went by before Jack was summoned back to the mountain. Or ex-mountain as the case may be. He wondered how long they'd stay there before relocating somewhere less demolished. It didn't exactly inspire confidence as the world's command center for homeland defense.

Hammond had taken his advice to heart, and several linguists had made their way to Abydos to meet with Daniel and they were all taking a crash course in Goa'uld. Rayner and Gardner hovered in the background, still puzzled, and none-too-pleased at Daniel's sudden notoriety. Jack had no doubt they'd find a way to capitalize on it, and Daniel would let them, because that was just the way Daniel was. Jack couldn’t wait for them to try, because that wasn't the way Jack was. 

In their free time, he and Daniel were trying to remember all the addresses they could and what lay behind them. Every day, the headlines in the world newspapers dealt with something to do with either the Stargate program or the attack itself. They weren't saying much yet, just enough to keep everyone gossiping. Jack had no doubt there were rough and furious meetings going on between the United States and all the other major players. He wouldn't trade places with Hammond for all the money in the world.

Thor was still hanging around, which made getting to the mountain--ex-mountain--quick and easy. This time it was crowded with a lot of people. "Hey," he said. He almost saluted but then remembered he didn't have to anymore. Not that he'd been particularly good at remembering before. 

It was then he realized that Thor had beamed down with him. "Hey, buddy," he said to the alien. "I didn't know you were coming."

Then he grasped that Acting-President Woolsey was there, along with several other people who looked like really, really important, representatives from other countries. Asian, Indian, Middle East somewhere, a guy that looked like Tony Blair, probably was Tony Blair, which meant England's Prime Minister was here, as well. Jack would have worn a new T-shirt if he'd known who he was meeting with.

Thor looked up at him. "You are here at my request."

"Cool," Jack said. "What's up?"

"I have informed your world's leaders that I wish for you to be the Earth's Ambassador to the Asgard," Thor announced.

"Really?" was all Jack was able to say. He looked around the room and saw that there was a mixture of annoyance, resignation, and interest on the faces surrounding him. "What's that mean, exactly?" He wasn't about to go flying off with Thor, leaving Daniel behind.

"Nothing that would require you to leave this world," he reassured Jack, as if he'd read his mind. "I believe having an emissary would facilitate communication."

"I can still live in Egypt?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Thor said.

"Okay," Jack said. "It's fine with me." He patted Thor on the shoulder. "I’m touched, really."

Thor stared at him for a moment and then turned to the crowd in the room. "Perhaps we should discuss the terms of the treaty, now."

And with that, Thor and Jack were given a seat, and the rest of the interminably boring day was spent going over bullet points. When hours had passed, and there seemed to be no resolution in sight, Jack leaned over to Thor. "You should really bring Daniel here, you know. He likes this kind of stuff. You sure you wouldn't rather have him as your Ambassador?"

"No," Thor said briefly, but then there was a flash of light, and Daniel was standing there, looking around frantically, completely confused. 

"What's going on?" he demanded, turning around a few times until he saw Jack. "Jack?"

Jack gestured at Thor. "His fault."

Daniel narrowed his eyes at Jack. "Somehow I find that hard to believe." Then to Thor, "I would prefer to get some notice next time. I was in the middle of something."

"Kids okay?" Jack asked, just to be sure.

"My mom was there," Daniel said.

Jack nodded in satisfaction, figuring they couldn't be in better hands if neither he nor Daniel could be there.

"My apologies, Dr. Jackson," Thor said. "Jack O'Neill thought you would be useful."

Daniel blinked at Jack. "Right." He glanced around the room again and did a double take when he saw the collection of dignitaries who were gathered there staring at him. "Oh. Uh, hello," he finally stammered out.

"Dr. Jackson," Hammond said, rescuing him. "We have been working on the treaty to become a protected planet under the protectorate of the Asgard. Perhaps you would be willing to take a look."

"Uh, sure," Daniel said, uncertainly. To Thor he said, "Do we eventually have to include the Goa'uld in this discussion? When we did this on our Earth, we had to meet with three of the more powerful Goa'uld and have them be part of the negotiations." He winced. "Needless to say, it didn't go well."

Jack snorted. "Understatement."

"Not at this time," Thor said. "The Goa'uld currently lack the technology to win in battle against us. This treaty is merely to outline what the people of your world and the Asgard should expect from one another."

Daniel, God bless him, looked fascinated. "I'd love to help with that," he said, smiling. Looking around again, he said, "Assuming you need some help," he added deferentially to the world leaders around the room.

There wasn't much they could say about it, even if they didn't think they needed the help. If Thor wanted Daniel in on the action, he was in like Flynn. He leaned down to Thor. "How about a break?" he suggested. "Then feel free to get started again without me. Like I said, this is more Daniel's shtick."

Thor did that little head bob thing that Jack took as assent, and suggested to General Hammond that a break was in order. There was a slow exodus, little huddles of conversation, with both curious and hostile looks directed his and Daniel's way. Eventually, only the three of them remained.

Jack wasn't worried about the looks. Daniel would be the voice of reason and get this treaty thing sorted out in no time, leaving everyone reasonably happy. And that meant Jack could get home in time to have dinner with the family and have great sex for dessert. Charlie was just as happy staying with Mel and Claire as he was staying with Jack and Daniel.

Just like Jack, Charlie had taken to his new life like white on rice. He was being home-schooled by Claire and, in his free time, he hung with Rebecca and the other children, racing around, soaking everything in, and already speaking passable Arabic. Jack kept waiting for the meltdown to come, for Charlie to start reacting to everything that had happened in the last week to him personally and to the world, but so far, Jack hadn't seen hide nor hair of it.

"Thor made me his Ambassador," Jack said proudly to Daniel.

Daniel smiled at Jack, but he said, "Why?"

"Hey!" Jack protested. "I can be a good Ambassador."

"Do you have any idea what an Ambassador does?" Daniel challenged him.

"Sort of," Jack said defensively. "I figure Thor will show me the ropes."

"I will be glad to," Thor informed him. "I merely wish to limit the numbers of Earthlings we converse with. There is less chance for misinterpretation if we are able to speak through one person."

"And you chose Jack for that?" Daniel asked in wonder.

Jack smacked him on the arm.

"He speaks the truth," Thor stated. "Because he is not of this world, he can be impartial."

That was probably true. It would have been harder back on his own planet, because he would have been very biased toward the United States. He might do a better job of not doing that here.

As if upon further reflection on Daniel's doubt, Thor said to Daniel, "Perhaps you might also be willing to assist."

"I would be honored," Daniel said.

Jack frowned at him. "You're stealing my thunder."

"Just a lightning bolt or two," Daniel said with a smirk. "This way I can keep you from creating a daily international incident."

Jack grumbled under his breath, feeling like Rodney Dangerfield. "In that case, I'll leave you to this treaty stuff. Let me know when you're done."

"What are you going to do?" Daniel asked.

"Get some coffee," Jack answered. "Maybe stop by the pink and frilly house for more clothes. Of course that means I'd have to get the key from Carter, so maybe not. Maybe I'll go shopping instead."

"You're going shopping?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

"Oh, ye of little faith," Jack said scornfully. "I can shop."

"For beer and pizza," Daniel pointed out.

"I think you should beam him out into space," Jack said to Thor. "It's the least you can do for your Ambassador." Then, quickly, just in case Thor thought he was serious. "Kidding."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Go get coffee. I suggest you stay on base so Thor won't beam you accidentally out of Old Navy."

"Good point," Jack said, relieved, actually. He hated shopping. Standing, he patted Daniel on the arm, wishing he could give him a kiss. "Hold down the fort, Dr. Jackson. Show these bozos how it's done."

Daniel shot him one of his how-are-we-friends-again looks. Grinning, Jack left the conference room in search of coffee and pie.

* * *

Jack was eyeing his second piece of pie when someone sat down across from him. He looked up and frowned when he saw Carter. "What do you want?" he asked curtly.

"I just wanted to say hello," she said, sounding all reasonable, like it was high time he got over himself and forgave her for her minor infraction.

That was when he noticed she'd cut her hair. It looked better, but it was creepy because it was just like his Carter's. "What's with the hair?" 

She touched it and shrugged. "I decided it was time for a change." Hesitating, she added, "And I know this was how your Samantha wore hers, so I thought it might make you feel more comfortable around me."

Jack stared at her. "Right. Because the little flippy curls are going to make me forget that you zatted me." 

Shooting him a frustrated look, she said, "I don't know what else I can say to apologize."

"First of all, you don't look like my Carter, because she never wears dresses to work; she wears BDUs. Plus, in her spare time she doesn't zat people and kidnap them from their reality into another." His appetite gone, Jack stood. "Just stay away from me. That's all I ask. You do that, and we'll get along just fine."

"How's Daniel?" she threw out apropos of nothing.

Jack glared at her. "And you stay away from him."

"I know you feel you have to be with him because he's from your world, but it doesn't have to be that way," she said helpfully. "We can still be together. He'll understand. No matter what you feel for him, it can't even come close to what we had."

"Lady," Jack said. "You've got a few too many screws loose for me." He wondered if she was already loopy when her Jack met her. "Tell me, were you crazy before he died? Seriously, were you? On drugs, in therapy, something?"

Her eyes shifted away for a second, and she didn't say anything to refute what he was saying.

"Yeah, I thought so," Jack said. "Did you stop taking your drugs? Because you really need to go back on them." With that, he strode away. Even arguing over a treaty was preferable to talking with her. Gah.

* * *

"Can we go yet?" Jack said to Daniel who was hovering in the hallway, surrounded by his new adoring fans. Apparently, he'd broken some world record in getting twenty people in a room, who never agreed to anything, to agree to the same thing. 

Daniel held up his finger, the universal signal for 'in a minute', which for Daniel meant sometime this year. Thor was talking to Hammond and Tony Blair so Jack sauntered over there.

"Thank you for your suggestion to include Daniel Jackson," Thor said to Jack. 

"I second that," the Prime Minister said. "He's quite good."

Feeling unjustifiably proud of Daniel, Jack just shot them a lopsided grin. It wasn't like he had anything to do with Daniel's abilities, but he was perfectly happy taking the praise. To Thor, he said, "You need us for anything else today?"

"No," Thor said. "I will return you to your home when Dr. Jackson is ready to go."

"Sweet," Jack said, planning on going over and extricating Daniel from the crowd gathered around him. But before he could do that, Daniel was standing next to him. "Ready to go home?"

"You betcha," Jack said agreeably. As he stood ready to be beamed up, he saw Carter looking furiously at him from down the hallway. As the beam took him, he realized she hadn't been looking at him, that anger had been directed at Daniel. It made him even gladder to be away from her when their feet were back on Egyptian soil.

* * *

Daniel got up and stretched. He'd been reading about the Asgard, wanting to become more familiar with their history and culture. If he and Jack, and now it was officially he and Jack, were going to be the Asgard Ambassadors, he felt he ought to understand them as well as possible. 

It was hard to believe that he and Jack had been in this reality for only a few weeks. It felt as if this had always been his life. It frightened him sometimes, that if he could have painted a picture of the life he'd always wanted, it would be this: his parents still alive, him living in Egypt, able have a family, to work on archaeological finds, able to teach, and to be in love.

Granted, he'd never pictured a retired military man as a probable spouse, but he'd never loved anyone as much as he loved Jack. Charlie felt as much his son as Rebecca did his daughter. Daniel might be from a different reality, but his genes were still a part of her, and he was convinced that was part of what made it so instinctive to claim her as his, the same way he claimed Mel and Claire as his parents. 

They were all going to be moving closer to Cairo soon. The destruction and resultant digging and clearing away of debris had unearthed countless graves and new archaeological finds. They all needed to be studied in light of the now known existence of the Goa'uld.

Daniel couldn't wait to get going. He'd miss this place, but a larger city meant the possibility of a real house, with bedrooms, which Daniel knew Jack would like. Having to sneak around to make love, always needing to be cautious of being too noisy or being interrupted, kept them in a regular state of semi-arousal, as they couldn't touch as often as they'd like.

On their behalf, someone was looking for something large where the six of them could be together. Claire had confided that the thought of regular warm baths and showers was alluring, even though she'd have happily lived the rest of her life in sturdy tents on a dig site.

The military presence here had grown tremendously over the last couple of weeks. As more and more classified information made its way to the area, they did a necessary job keeping the curious and, occasionally, ill-intentioned away. Daniel understood why they were there, but he wasn't happy about it.

They'd chosen one tent to be 'Stargate Central' so to speak. This was where Daniel met with all the scientists who came his way, as well as any world leaders. He'd already met with the President of Egypt twice, and Acting-President Woolsey had been here a couple days ago. This tent, especially, was guarded all the time.

Deciding he was hungry, he stacked his papers into a couple of tall, wobbly piles, nodded to the guard who was posted inside the tent, smiled at the two by the door outside, and headed for the food tent. He and Jack hadn't bothered securing the services of someone to make meals specifically for them. If they wanted a family dinner, they ate at his parents'. Otherwise, they ate what everyone else ate.

The only truly difficult part of his new life was that a dozen times a day, at least, he found himself thinking of Sam and Teal'c. He missed them, longed to see them again while, paradoxically, dreading their appearance. 

Charlie and Rebecca went racing by, laughing, followed by a couple of the younger Egyptian children. Daniel had no idea where Jack was. He'd gotten bored hours ago and wandered off, no doubt sunning someplace. Daniel kept waiting for Jack's boredom to reach critical levels, but it hadn't happened yet. He'd been eyeing the boats on the Nile yesterday, and Daniel fully expected Jack to purchase something so he could launch into the river to fish.

As if his thoughts had conjured her, Daniel saw someone who looked just like Sam out of the corner of his eye. He turned, his heart racing in combined joy and panic, but whatever he'd thought he'd seen wasn't there.

Frowning, he scanned the area, trying to determine what he'd seen. This time he saw her for real. "Sam?" he called, unbelievingly.

She looked his way. "Daniel?"

Despite the roiling in his gut, he ran for her. "Is it really you?" he asked in amazement. It looked like his Sam, short hair, BDUs, happy smile. At her nod, he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. "God, it's good to see you. Jack and I have missed you and Teal'c so much."

"Us, too," she said.

"How did you get here?" Daniel asked. "We tried to find another quantum mirror, but we didn't know where to start." He looked around. "Where's Teal'c?"

She pointed behind her toward the dune. "He's back there. We weren't sure how people would respond to him," she pointed to her forehead in explanation, "given the attack."

"Good idea," Daniel said. Studying her, he decided she looked a little nervous, maybe strained, but realized that wasn't unlikely given how hard she'd probably been looking for him and Jack. "I'm so sorry we couldn't get a message to you," Daniel told her.

"Come with me so we can talk to Teal'c," Sam invited him. "He'll want to hear what you've been up to."

"Let me go get Jack," Daniel suggested, trying to figure out the most expedient way to find him.

"No," Sam said quickly. "Teal'c is anxious to see you. Let's do that first so he doesn't get worried about me not coming back, We'll go find Jack together."

"Oh. Okay," Daniel agreed. No one here had ever seen a Goa'uld in person, so he didn't think anyone would be fearful of Teal'c, other than the normal reaction people had to his size and tattoo, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He gave Sam another hug. "It really is great to see you."

"You, too," she said, returning the hug, although not with Sam's usual enthusiasm.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked, concerned.

"Just tired," she assured him. "It's been a long few weeks."

Daniel felt a little guilty at how time had flown for him and Jack. "Did you see the other Sam? Samantha, I mean," he asked her. "Have you been to the mountain, or ex-mountain, as Jack likes to call it?"

"No," she said. "We came directly here once we found out where you two were."

"How _did_ you find out where we were?" Daniel asked. "It's probably just as well you didn't see the other Sam Carter," he pointed out, without waiting for an answer. "She's not taking everything particularly well. I think she really thought that Jack would fall in love with her like her Jack did."

"You don't think that's possible?" Sam asked a little tightly.

Daniel stopped short at the tone in her voice. "Excuse me?" 

"Nothing," Sam said, shaking her head. "It's just that this is the second reality we've been to where Jack and I were together."

It had never crossed Daniel's mind, until this very second, that his Sam might have feelings for Jack. That was going to make the upcoming conversation even more awkward. "Where did you say Teal'c was?"

"Right around here," she said, leading him on. They got around the corner, out of sight of the camp, and Daniel looked around eagerly, wanting to greet Teal'c.

"Where is he?"

"Why you?" Sam asked.

"What?" Daniel asked, turning around to find a very different Samantha Carter, overtly hostile and dangerous, aiming a zat at Daniel. "You're not my Sam." He was embarrassed at how easily he'd been duped. 

"Why you?" she asked again scornfully. "Why you and not me? Were you together in your reality?"

"No," Daniel said, a second before he realized he maybe should have said yes.

"Then why you?" she demanded.

"Does it matter?" Daniel asked pointedly. "I know it's hard, but he's not your husband."

"How would you know how hard it is?" she asked venomously.

"Because I lost my wife," he said gently. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love. But this Jack isn't him. Surely you understand that." Or maybe she didn't. Jack really thought she was insane. Maybe she was. 

"You don't know anything," she said dismissively, her anger making her ugly. "This needs to stop."

"What needs to stop?" Daniel asked, speaking quietly, making no sudden movements. 

"You and him. As long as you're with him, he'll never love me."

"Okay, I'll stop," Daniel said as reasonably as he could. "Let's go talk to him and tell him. But, first, give me the zat, okay? There are soldiers here, and if they see you with it, they might shoot you."

Through narrowed eyes, she studied him. "No. I don't believe you."

"Sam," he started.

"Samantha," she snapped back. 

"Okay," Daniel said, one hand out, trying not to make any sudden movements that could set her off. "Samantha. You might not be my Sam, but you're enough like her that I know you don't really want to do this. You're not a murderer. You're a scientist and one of the bravest women I know. You found a way to save this Earth. You're a hero."

"What does it matter without Jack?" she pleaded. 

"It will get better," he promised her. "The pain does go away. You will find someone new to love."

"Like you did?" she asked angrily. The zat, which had started to droop, was pointed at him again with intent. "I don't want someone else. And if he didn't love you, he'd love me."

"It doesn't work that way," he reasoned. "You can't force someone to fall in love with you. And he certainly won't love you if you hurt me."

"He won't know," she said shrewdly. "You'll just disappear. And he certainly won't suspect me, because why would I be here?" She smiled at him, and it was one of the creepiest smiles Daniel had ever seen. 

Daniel thought about yelling, but he didn't think anyone would get there before she'd shot him three times. He'd left his phone lying on the table with his books, not that he'd have time to use it. He had no idea what kind of fighter this Sam was, but he didn't think he could wrestle the zat away from her before she shot him. "Samantha," he pleaded, deciding words were the only weapon he had at his disposal, "don't do this. Please. When you've come back to your senses, you won't be able to forgive yourself. Don't do this to yourself."

Her lips tightened, and her finger began to close on the trigger mechanism. Daniel was about to lunge to the side in hopes of avoiding the first blast when Charlie and Rebecca burst over the hill, laughing and pushing at each other.

Charlie skidded to a full stop, his eyes opened wide at the scene in front of him. "Dad!" he hollered in a panic.

"What's that?" Rebecca asked, pointing at Samantha's weapon.

To Daniel's horror, Samantha turned the zat on the kids and shot them, and they collapsed to the ground. Taking advantage of the distraction, and his rage at her actions, he launched himself at Samantha.

* * *

Jack was heading toward Daniel's last known location when he heard Charlie yell. Something in his voice alerted Jack that it wasn't a typical 'eleven-year-old calling for his dad because he wanted something' sort of yell. It was a 'get the fuck over here because I'm in trouble' yell. 

Running in the direction he thought the call came from, Jack heard the unmistakable sound of a zat and a sound of outrage that undoubtedly came from Daniel. Putting on a burst of extra speed, he hit the top of the hill only to see Charlie and Rebecca lying on the ground. 

For a second, all Jack could see was Charlie lying on the floor of his bedroom, the back of his head blown off by Jack's gun. All he could think was that he'd done it again; he'd lost his son, again. 

The sound of flesh hitting flesh snapped him out of it, and he saw Daniel on the ground with someone who looked just like Carter, his Carter, but this Carter was holding a zat and she was doing her best to aim it at Daniel, which told him all he needed to know.

Seeing everyone, everything, at risk of dying, finally prompted Jack into motion. He raced across the sand to Daniel just in time to see him smack Carter across the face with a solid back-handed blow. Daniel grabbed the zat and threw it as far as he could, snarling in fury. 

Then, just like Jack had taught him, Daniel pinned Carter to the ground, his hands on her wrists above her head, his thighs holding hers, while his feet kept her shins immobile. 

Jack retrieved the zat. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded.

"She shot the kids, Jack," Daniel spit out in livid bewilderment. "Why would she do that?"

"Because she's nuts," Jack said distastefully. "Hold on." Jack ran back up the hill. "Hey," he yelled to the nearest guard. "We could use some help here!" He then moved to Charlie and Rebecca. "One blast?" he asked in fear, afraid to look too closely to see if Charlie was still breathing.

"One blast," Daniel reassured him, glaring at Carter when she started to struggle against his hold.

Thanking God, Thor, and any other friendly deity that might be listening, he knelt between the kids, wishing he could pull them both into his lap. He settled for moving them closer, so he could keep a hand on both. 

When two soldiers appeared over the hill, weapons in hand, Jack said, pointing, "Secure her." When they looked at him puzzled, Jack said, "Daniel."

Daniel said what Jack presumed to be the same thing, but in Arabic. The soldiers moved gratifyingly quickly, all of them already enamored of Daniel, something Jack was so not surprised about, and got Carter rolled over and in plastic cuffs in a matter of seconds.

Pushing off the ground, Daniel glowered down at her. "What is wrong with you? You shot a couple of kids." To Jack, he added indignantly, "She came here to kill me."

Jack wanted to kill her. Charlie began to stir, and Jack gathered him up in his arms. "Hey, buddy, you okay?"

Charlie's eyes went from squinting to frantic in seconds, and he tried to look around. 

"You're fine, everyone's fine," Jack reassured him. "Rebecca will be awake in a second. Daniel punched Carter right in the face. You should have seen it." Okay, maybe Jack shouldn't have told him that.

Charlie blinked at him, and then burst into tears.

Jack held him tightly and muttered, "I know just how you feel." He buried his face in Charlie's hair, hearing Daniel move to his side to attend to Rebecca. 

One of the soldiers spoke to Daniel, who spoke wearily back. To Jack, Daniel said, "What do we do with her?"

Jack had no freaking idea. "Where's the closest jail cell?"

Daniel spoke again in Arabic and, after a few more sentences back and forth, the soldiers began to drag Carter off.

"Jack," she begged desperately. "Don't let them do this. I was doing it for you!"

Jack didn't even want to look at her, so he stayed focused on Charlie as they dragged her away, yelling his name.

When they were gone, and it was just he and Daniel, holding their kids, Jack had to fight off the sobs that were building in his chest. Jesus. He'd almost lost them all. Jesus.

Daniel inched closer, Rebecca in his lap, and he wrapped an arm around Jack. "We're okay, Jack. We're all okay."

A sob managed to escape, and Jack grabbed at Daniel, needing him close, needing his entire family as close as he could get them. 

* * *

For their safety, as if Carter had only been the vanguard of an enemy invasion, the whole family was moved to a penthouse suite in the nearest hotel that had a penthouse suite.

Jack had no idea where they were and didn't freaking care. The fucking bitch had shot Charlie and Rebecca. He was furious about the intended attack on Daniel, but at least he was a full-grown man; to shoot a couple of defenseless kids was beyond his comprehension.

He resumed his pacing which had temporarily ceased as another surge of rage paralyzed him. She'd shot Charlie. It was only luck and timing that had kept it to one zat blast. He knew Carter had wanted to eliminate Daniel in hopes Jack would turn to her. Getting rid of the kids, in her twisted mind, could only achieve that goal faster.

As he continued pacing in the master bedroom where Charlie lay sleeping, he could hear Daniel cooking something in the kitchen, the low steady tone of his voice carrying as he chatted with Rebecca and his parents.

A part of Jack was annoyed that Daniel was handling the whole thing better than he was. It wasn't that Daniel wasn't mad; he was. He was furious. It was just that Daniel…well, to be honest, Jack had no idea. Only that Daniel was keeping it together and being pleasant to people, while Jack was so angry that everything that came out of his mouth was hostile and unkind.

Daniel had followed him into the bedroom while Jack was depositing Charlie on the bed, and told him not to come out until he pulled it together. At least Daniel had had the presence of mind to leave him with Charlie. Jack didn't think he could stand to be separated from his son. The fucking bitch had shot him. If she'd been standing in front of him right now, he'd have broken her neck. And if he ever saw her again, he would.

Jack fisted his hands in his hair, his teeth clenched tightly, the need to expel some of this negative energy almost tearing him apart. The need overcame his common sense, and he slammed his fist into the nearest wall, punching a good sized dent into the plaster.

There was a reactive silence in the other room at the noise, but then Daniel's voice started up again, just as calm, and the clatter of kitchen items being used resumed. Jack turned to Charlie, amazed he'd slept through the noise.

"Fuck," Jack said as he shook his hand out. That hurt. He glanced at his knuckles and saw blood. 

The door opened and shut and then Daniel was there taking his hand.

"Leave it alone," Jack snarled, pulling his hand away.

"Shut the fuck up, Jack," Daniel growled back. "Let me see your hand."

Daniel's use of profanity surprised Jack into obedience. 

Dragging him into the bathroom, Daniel turned the faucet on and held Jack's hand under the stream of water. "Feel better?" he asked waspishly. "You're paying for that hole in the wall."

"No," Jack said, the anger surging back. "And no, I don't feel better. I can't imagine why," he added with hostile sarcasm.

Daniel sighed but kept his mouth shut. He ran his hands gently over Jack's pained knuckles, cleaning away what blood hadn't washed off. Then he manipulated Jack's hand, moving it this way and that, checking out the fingers. "It doesn't feel like anything is broken, but your hand's going to hurt. You should take some Motrin now."

Jack yanked his hand out from under Daniel's ministrations. "Just leave my fucking hand alone," he snapped, unable to stop the words or the angry tone.

"Jack," Daniel said. "You need to calm down. When Charlie wakes up, he can't see you like this."

Drying his hand on his pants, Jack moved back into the bedroom. "She shot him, Daniel," was all he could say.

"I know that. I was there."

"How can you be so freaking calm about it?" he yelled at Daniel.

"Because they need me to be. I'll freak later," Daniel said just as heatedly, pointing toward the door which separated them from Daniel's parents and daughter. 

"It's like you don't care," Jack accused, appalled at the words leaving his mouth. 

Daniel's eyes grew dark and flinty, and his hands fisted at his sides. "Don’t ever say something like that again. I'll let you get away with it this once, because I know you're upset. But say something like that again, and I'll--." He stopped, his hands opening as if in petition, his head dropping with weariness. "Jack," he said, his voice cracking. 

"Jesus, Daniel," Jack said, moving to him, pulling him into his arms, Daniel's pain getting to him in a way nothing else could. "I didn't mean it. I’m sorry. I didn't mean it." He hugged Daniel tightly, finding himself scared shitless when Daniel didn't hug him back.

"Please," Jack begged. "Please forgive me." This is what he'd done to Sara when Charlie had been killed: pushed her away, said hateful things. "Please, Daniel."

Finally, finally, Daniel's arms came up and hugged him back. "I know you're angry," Daniel said softly in his ear. "I know that. I am, too. But I need you to be angry with me, not at me. Okay?"

"I'm an asshole," Jack told him. "I'll try. I will. But you're probably gonna have to remind me every now and then."

A shaky laugh escaped Daniel. "Color me surprised." This time, though, the arms squeezed tighter, and Jack could feel Daniel's muscles relax.

They stood there in the middle of the bedroom, holding each other for the longest time, reconnecting, Jack finally finding some calm in the warm and very alive body in his arms, the sounds of a child's sleepy snuffling behind him, and the quiet talking coming through the door. His family. His to protect, but mostly his to love.

He pulled back to check on Daniel. "You okay?" 

"I will be," Daniel promised. 

"I love you," Jack assured him. "And I'm sorry I'm such an asshole."

"If you being an asshole bothered me," Daniel said with a small grin, "I wouldn't have jumped through the mirror after you."

Jack hated to think where he'd be if Daniel hadn't, so he pushed that thought away and kissed Daniel instead. Daniel eagerly returned the kiss, his hands rucking up the fabric of the back of Jack's t-shirt, his head slanting to more easily devour Jack's mouth.

"Bathroom?" Daniel gasped out.

"Yes," Jack agreed eagerly, pushing Daniel in that direction, his hands never leaving Daniel's body. It would have to be quick, but quick was good. 

When he had Daniel against the counter, Jack shut the door, praying Charlie wouldn't wake up for a few minutes. Daniel already had Jack's belt open, while Jack was busy lifting up the fabric of Daniel's robes. Then both cocks were free, and they joined hands around their erections.

They worked in tandem, stroking, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, while their lips and tongues echoed their movement. Jack felt like he could eat Daniel alive; every cell in his body was vibrating with need and want.

He had made love to Daniel long enough to know when he was close, so Jack changed the speed so he could catch up. He wanted them to come together, and less than a minute later he got his wish as they both jetted creamy liquid over their joined hands. The kissing didn't stop, though it turned from wet, full-action kissing, into softer kisses, more a pressing of lips over and over again, while Daniel grabbed the closest towel and managed to clean them up.

Daniel's robes fell to the floor, covering him up, while Jack was still waving in the breeze, but Jack didn't care. The love for the man in his arms obliterated everything except the need to keep him there.

"Charlie's calling you," a voice said.

"Hmm?" Jack said, nibbling on Daniel's neck, managing to stay awake only because falling asleep would hurt as he crashed to the floor.

"Charlie," Daniel said.

"What?"

"He's awake, and he's calling for you."

That finally got Jack's attention. He took a step back and tucked himself back in. "Thanks," he said to Daniel, enjoying the just-fucked look on his face. "I needed that." He kissed the tip of Daniel's nose. "I need you, Dr. Jackson."

As Daniel grinned stupidly at him, Jack smiled back as he left the bathroom, leaving the door open, not wanting it shut between them. "I'm right here, Charlie," he assured his son. 

He sat on the bed, and Charlie launched himself into his lap, and burst into tears again. And here it is, Jack thought to himself, the straw that broke the camel's back. As Charlie sobbed into Jack's chest, Jack figured he was crying for the death of his mom, for his part in it, for the following years of losing his original dad's love in reprisal, for the alien attack, for being taken away from his home, his school, his friends, for watching the other Daniel die, learning he had a new dad, and finally getting attacked by the woman who had technically been his step-mom. It had been one hell of a one-two punch for the kid.

"You're okay," Jack said. "I've got you." The irony that Daniel had been doing this for him only a few minutes ago didn't escape Jack. He heard Daniel walking toward them, and then he sat down near the two of them. 

Daniel rubbed Charlie's back for a moment, and then said, "I better go back out there. I'm sure they're wondering what's going on."

Despite the sobbing child in his arms, Jack smirked. "Feel free to edit."

Daniel snickered in response, leaned in to kiss Jack, then moved down a little to kiss Charlie on his tear-stained cheek. "Hey, Charlie," Daniel said softly. "I never got to thank you for calling for your dad. You saved my life."

Charlie glanced at him, sobs still shaking his body, then up at Jack.

Jack nodded down at him. "You did great. And I'm sorry she's such a psycho." 

"S…s…samantha?" Charlie said between hiccoughing sobs.

"That's the one," Jack said. "I promise you I'll never let her near you again." He took Daniel's hand. "Any of you."

Charlie started crying again, and Jack inched his way around until he was leaning against the headboard, deciding he'd better get comfortable. He might be here a while.

"Call if you need anything," Daniel told him, kissing him one more time.

"I will," Jack said, drinking in the sight of the man, gorgeous man, gorgeous eyes, gorgeous body, gorgeous heart and soul. "Don't go far."

Daniel pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. "About twenty feet away, okay?"

Jack thought about it for a minute. "No farther," he warned.

Daniel ran his hand down Jack's face, and then Charlie's, before turning and leaving the room.

When he was gone, Jack focused all his attention on his son, holding him tightly. "Just let it out," Jack advised. "Listen to your old man. Keeping it all bottled up inside is a bad idea." As another surge of anger swamped him, Jack ignored his own advice, stomping it into submission. However, when a few tears leaked out in response to his son's tears, Jack let them fall.

* * *

Charlie was tearful on and off for a week and wouldn't let Jack out of his sight. The one time Thor needed him, Charlie went too, which suited Jack and Charlie just fine.

Eventually, though, Charlie started to forget to keep Jack in sight, and he began to laugh more and hang out with Rebecca, who was too nice a kid to make fun of all of Charlie's tears, and then, with only intermittent relapses, Charlie was back to his usual rambunctious, having fun with life, kid self.

Not that Jack thought that was the end of it. He probably needed to get Charlie in to see a therapist, but finding one who spoke English was going to be a trick. Meanwhile, Daniel was encouraging Charlie to talk about everything that had happened, in hopes of rooting out any festering before it got any worse, so maybe that would be enough for the time being.

Hammond had come out to apologize. Carter was in a padded cell, on some psychotropic cocktail, and Jack hoped she rotted there. "You'll tell me if she gets out?" Jack asked, as he gave Hammond the cook's tour of Abydos. They spent their nights at the hotel, but came to the site during the day. 

"I will," Hammond promised. "I can't tell you how sorry I am."

Jack gave a moment's thought to chastising the man for not seeing what was in front of his eyes, but he kept his mouth shut. Daniel would be so proud. Besides, knowing Hammond, he'd no doubt castigate himself way more than Jack could. It was possible, as well, that Carter had only put on her crazy hat when Jack was around. "If I see her again," Jack told the general, "I'll act first and think later."

"I can't say as I'd blame you, Jack," Hammond said. "I suspect she'll be under strict observation for some time. She was barely coherent by the time they got her back to Colorado." He shook his head. "It's such a terrible thing."

Jack had no pity for the woman. He'd only just gotten to the point where he could think of Charlie lying in the sand without feeling an acute homicidal need to get his hands around her scrawny neck. "Even if she gets better, I won't work with her."

When there was no answer from the general, Jack turned to him. "I'm sorry to be such a hardass about it, but I'll never trust her again. If you and your team decide she needs to be allowed to work at the SGC, just let me know, and me and Daniel will gracefully bow out. It's a big world out there; we'll find someplace to live under the radar."

"What I hear you saying," Hammond said stiffly, "is it's either her or you?"

"And Daniel," Jack threw out. He suspected they'd find a way to live without him, but Daniel was their golden boy. Jack was willing to put Daniel's usefulness up against Carter's any day. He always had been, even against his own Carter. The SGC of this Earth was happy to pick Jack's brain, but it was Daniel who had non-stop talents to offer. Languages to translate, treaties to broker, heads of state to woo. In no time, he'd be delivering babies. 

"I'll take that under advisement," Hammond said, clearly not happy.

"She tried to kill my son," Jack said adamantly, needing to have Hammond on his side.

Hammond's lips tightened. "Yes, she did. And you're right, of course." He looked off into the distance, shaking his head, as if wondering how it had come to this. "What a conundrum the Stargate has presented us with," he mused. "Aliens attack the planet and cause general dissension among all the world's leaders, and yet, having a common enemy has brought us closer to peace than I ever expected to see in my lifetime."

Not that there weren't areas in political turmoil, but what the general was saying was true. Protecting the world took precedence over your small piece of it.

"Even the quantum mirror," Hammond continued. "It gave us a way to save our world, thanks to you and your team, but it's also destroyed the mental health of a woman I liked and admired, and tore your and Dr. Jackson's lives apart."

"She all but admitted to me that she was crazy before any of this stuff started," Jack said to Hammond. "I'm not sure how she doctored her records so you didn't find it, or why your Jack O'Neill didn't think it was an issue, but I'm betting if you dig deep enough, you'll find she'd slipped over the deep edge a long time ago. I think she stopped taking her meds when everything went to hell in a hand basket." He snapped his fingers. "I'll bet there are drugs at the house." 

"I'll have someone from the medical team go and look," Hammond told him.

"And, General," Jack said, "George," he amended, "don't feel so badly about me and Daniel. We're doing just fine. Great, actually, psychotic killers aside. We're happy."

"Are you?" Hammond asked, his eyes probing as if searching for the truth.

"We are," Jack said sincerely. "In fact, we're happier here than we were at home," he admitted, wanting to give the general something to make him feel better. 

"I’m glad to hear that, Jack," Hammond said with a tight smile, "and I appreciate you telling me. It makes me feel a mite less guilty about the whole affair."

"Stay for dinner," Jack suggested. "Meet the whole family. I guarantee you'll see how happy we are, in fact you'll be sick of the happiness by the time dinner's over."

"I'd like that," Hammond said with a more relaxed smile. "Thank you."

"Sweet," Jack said, pleased. "Let me introduce you to the in-laws." With that, he towed Hammond off to meet the family.

* * *

As they were finally settled in Cairo, and as the weeks passed, it became clear that Egypt was the new Mecca. Every government sent historical and political representatives to see what was what. There were historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists, as well as tourists out the wazoo. 

Every major country in the world contributed toward the security force that was hard pressed to keep tourists from taking off with anything that might be considered a trendy souvenir, such as pieces of monuments, and on occasion, Daniel. Mostly, women just wanted to have his babies. Jack had fun disabusing them of that idea.

Rayner and Gardner had come to Cairo as well, much to Jack's annoyance. They'd played every whiny but-we've-been-friends-for-years card they had, and Daniel had totally caved. Jack didn't make too much of a fuss because the longer Jack knew them, the clearer it became that Daniel was the true genius among them. Rayner and Gardner were politicians and hanger-ons and, fortunately, in Jack's mind, their own limitations kept them out of the really good stuff. 

In ordinary circumstances, they might have been able to stomp right over Daniel to end up leading some of the educational initiatives and make a name for themselves. But in this circumstance, they were as ignorant as anyone else. That left Rayner and Gardner sitting with the commoners every time Daniel had something to share. Even Jack knew more Goa'uld than them.

The Nox had come for a visit, and this reality's Lya seemed just as taken with Daniel as their own had been. If anyone had doubted Daniel's worth before, the easy way all their alien allies took to him went a long way toward dispelling those doubts. Genuinely good guys with his skill set, without hidden agendas, weren't exactly thick on the ground.

The Tollan were their usual haughty selves but, once again, Omoc found Daniel to be the one human worthy of discourse. Councillor Tupelo was thrilled to make their acquaintance, especially as the first contact team came bearing anti-histamines.

The Tok'ra were being elusive, which Jack was fine with, and they hadn't tackled Chulak yet. No one had decided if it was in Earth's best interest to bring notice of their survival to a potentially hostile planet of trained and fearless warriors. 

  
Jack got that. Maybe he'd go with them if they decided to give it a try so he could talk to Bra'tac himself. This was one place where Jack could probably do more good than Daniel. But that could wait. He found he wasn't in any hurry to walk through the gate. Life was good. Great. Better than it had ever been. What he was doing on this Earth was satisfying in a way he couldn’t explain. He was helping to rebuild a world. 

And that wasn't just figuratively. In his free time, Jack was swinging hammers and pounding nails, helping to build houses for people to live in. The homeless were beyond count all over the world. He was learning enough Arabic to give simple directions and receive them, and at the end of each day, he came home sore but happy. Things only got better when Daniel had him soak in a tub and then gave him a head to toe massage.

He, Daniel, and their family were still living in the penthouse suite of the fanciest hotel still standing. It had become the place where all the traveling dignitaries stayed--easier to guard that way--and the conference rooms had been converted into make-shift classrooms and libraries.

Daniel had often talked about how wonderful the Egyptian people were, Jack completely agreed. He had never met a kinder, more humorous, able-to-deal-with-shit-with-a-smile people in his life. 

It made him wish he'd seen Daniel when he was growing up, because he must have been like Charlie, blooming under the loving attention Egyptians gave to every child, tanning under the hot sun, basking in the love of his parents. He must have been a sight to behold. It was no doubt why, despite the shit-fest Daniel's life became after his parents died, that he still had such a capacity for love and compassion.

And that shit-fest of a life? Jack could hardly see it all in when he looked at Daniel. He smiled and laughed on a regular basis, as if Egypt and this new life were curing him of the hard years of his previous life. Jack often found himself staring in appreciation, only to find Daniel's eyes meeting his, a matching joy on his face.

Jack couldn't believe they were fooling anyone, but the Egyptians, if they cared at all, certainly didn't let the two of them know it by any change in their affable natures. Overall, Jack couldn't ever remember feeling more content with his lot in life, which was why he was completely unprepared when he saw Carter out of the corner of his eye.

He let his hammer fall to the ground and took off after her. The wide smile on her face turned to confusion when he grabbed her, getting his arm around her neck, pushing her into an alley behind the standing rubble of two buildings. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he hissed at her. "How did you get out?"

Wide, confused eyes were all that answered him.

"Talk to me," he demanded, tightening his hold, even knowing it would make it hard for her to talk.

She grabbed at his arm. "Colonel," she gasped out.

"Colonel?" he laughed derisively. "Is that what you called him in bed? For the fucking last time, I am not him. I am not in love with you. I have never been in love with you. I will never be in love with you. I love Daniel. I will always love Daniel."

Her eyes were almost bugging out of her head, and Jack loosened up his hold just enough not to asphyxiate her. 

"I told Hammond if you ever came around me, Daniel, or our kids, that I'd kill you."

"I must caution you against that action," said a deep voice behind him.

Jack held still for a long moment. Then, finally, he said, "Teal'c?"

"Yes, O'Neill, it is I," came the calm voice.

"So that means you're not the crazy Carter from this reality?" he asked the woman he was slowly strangling.

She shook her head cautiously.

He let her go. "Fuck," he said succinctly. "Sorry about that. Holy fuck, Carter!" he said happily, reaching for her again, ignoring her flinch. Jack hugged her, spinning in a circle, lifting her feet off the ground. He put her down and turned to Teal'c, who seemed happy enough to get hugged as well, although his feet stayed firmly put. "How the hell did you find us?"

Carter had a hand to her throat, coughing a little.

"Sorry about the neck thing," Jack said sincerely. "The last time I saw Carter she shot my kids and was trying to kill Daniel." At the look on her face, he reassured her, "They're fine. It was a zat blast." He looked at the two of them again, thinking what a sight they were for sore eyes. "Fuck." 

"You said that already, Colonel O'Neill," Teal'c said in his deadpan way.

"Kids?" Carter asked weakly. She shot a glance at Teal'c, as if to communicate that this wasn't going at all as she expected.

Jack almost felt sorry for her, but he was more worried about the fact that the time had come to fish or cut bait, and he and Daniel had an awful decision to make. He'd been almost hoping, despite how he'd dearly missed the two friends standing in front of him, that they'd never show up.

"Let me take you home, and I'll explain everything," Jack suggested. "Oh, and it's just Jack. I resigned from the military."

That got an astonished look from Carter. "What?"

"Long story," Jack said. As he went back to the building crew, gave his excuses, and picked up his tools, he gave them the short version. "I resigned, I'm a civilian liaison, Daniel and I are Thor's Ambassadors, which mostly means Thor chats with me while Daniel does all the hard work."

"The Goa'uld attack," Jack continued, "sort of forced this SGC into going public, so Daniel's slowly reeducating the world, while I'm helping rebuild it." He held up his tools as exhibit A. "Charlie, my son, was still alive here, so that's kid number one. Daniel, the Daniel of this reality, who died during the attack, had a daughter, and that's kid number two. Daniel's parents are still alive here, too, so that completes the family."

He glanced at them to see how they were taking the rapid update. There were many looks being exchanged between Teal'c and Carter, and it was then that he noticed how exhausted she looked. It was hard to tell with Teal'c.

"Sorry to hit you with all of that, but seeing as how you're about to meet them all, I figured I should explain now." A few blocks later they entered the hotel and, coincidentally, found Daniel in the lobby talking with Lya.

Carter gasped, "Is that Lya?"

"In the flesh," Jack said. "Our allies are more like allies here. Go figure. They actually hang around and give us good advice. No weapons, but lots of advice."

Daniel noticed Jack and smiled, but when he saw Carter, his eyes widened in horror. A second later, Jack could see the moment he recognized Teal'c as his mouth dropped open and the smile came back, even brighter. 

Saying something quickly to Lya, Daniel strode over and forced the same type of hug on Carter Jack had. "God, Sam, it's so good to see you." He went through it all again with Teal'c. 

"It is good to see you as well, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. 

There were tears in Carter's eyes.

"What happened to your neck?" Daniel asked Sam tenderly, his arm still around her shoulder. 

"That would be me," Jack confessed. "I thought she was the other Carter."

"Ah," Daniel said. "She was crazy," he said by way of apology. "Last time we saw her she shot the kids."

As if conjured, the kids went racing by. 

"Hey, hey!" Jack yelled. "Come here."

Charlie and Rebecca reluctantly came to a stop, but when they saw Carter, they both let out a gasp and moved to hide behind Daniel and Jack.

"No, it's okay," Daniel said, tugging on Rebecca's shirt. "I know she looks just like her, but this one's a friend. A great friend. I promise."

Rebecca peeked at her from behind Daniel. "You sure?"

"Do you really think either of us would let you near that psycho?" Jack asked with a frown.

That seemed to convince both kids and they moved back in front, although they stayed close, each child leaning back on their parent. Rebecca smiled shyly at Carter, while Charlie seemed most taken with Teal'c. Daniel introduced them, "This is Rebecca and Charlie."

"You can call me Sam," Carter said to them both.

"And I am Teal'c," Teal'c said.

"What's that on his head?" Rebecca asked in a loud whisper.

Biting back a grin, Daniel said, "That's a tattoo."

Her brows furrowed. "Why's he got it on his head?"

"Long story," Daniel told her. "May I tell it to you later?"

She nodded.

"Thanks," he said. "Let's go upstairs."

"Jack, I want to ride," Rebecca said, tugging at his sleeve.

"Okay," Jack said agreeably enough, crouching down so Rebecca could get behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He stood, groaning. "You weigh a ton," he complained.

She tugged at his hair. "I do not," she said primly. 

"Oh, my God," Carter said, her hand over her mouth, her eyes bright with mirth. "She's just like you, Daniel."

"I know," Daniel said fondly, following Jack, Charlie by his side. "Isn't she great?" He looked down at Charlie and said something to him in Arabic.

Charlie said something back in the same language, which got Carter's and Teal'c's eyes widening in surprise.

Jack grinned. "He may not have Daniel's genes, but just by hanging around him I think he's picking up the linguist vibes."

"He's a natural," Daniel said proudly, ruffling Charlie's hair. Charlie swatted his hand away, but looked pleased at the compliment.

The kids filled the elevator ride with chatter, and when the doors opened, Jack led them to their suite. He keyed in the house code, and when the door opened, he hollered out, "Honey, I'm home."

Mel came out of the kitchen, complete with apron. "Dinner's almost ready. Claire called, and she's almost done with her meeting with the Egyptian Antiquities Council and said she'll be here shortly." He leaned up to kiss Rebecca's cheek. "Did you have a good day?"

She nodded emphatically, then tapped on Jack's shoulder. "Down," she said imperiously.

"Neigh," Jack said drolly, although he gently helped her slide down. "Hey, Mel, these are a couple of old friends," he said. "This is Major Samantha Carter, not to be confused with psycho Samantha Carter, and the big guy here is Teal'c. This is Mel, Daniel's dad."

"Pleased to meet you," Mel said, not thrown off by the addition of two more mouths to feed. Mel, Claire, Daniel, and Jack, all shared cooking duties; and they all had gotten used to unexpected guests dropping by, including aliens. Lya and Ohper had been their guests last night. Vegetarian cuisine, of course.

"Go wash up," Jack said to Charlie and Rebecca. He moved to Daniel and touched his arm. "Come with me," he said softly. To Carter and Teal'c, he said, "We'll be right back."

As he nudged Daniel off to the bedroom, he heard Mel offering their two unexpected visitors a drink.

* * *

Sam was aware of the fact that she hadn't managed to utter more than a dozen words since she'd first sighted Jack. Never in her wildest imagination could she have anticipated the reaction she'd gotten.

After all the days, weeks, months, of tireless searching, using up favors faster than a dog chewing through a bone, they'd finally found a way to recover their lost teammates.

They'd come straight to Cairo, directed there by Thor, and he'd beamed them down in a conveniently out of the way spot. He was much like her Thor, except he seemed quieter. Now she knew why. He, like these people, would not want to lose Jack and Daniel.

When Jack had spotted her, she'd been so excited, expecting a weary and relieved welcome. Instead, she'd been bodily attacked, threatened, and insulted. She knew now, rationally, that it wasn't her that the Colonel had meant to attack. But right then, when it was happening, she hadn't. Then, all she'd heard was his hateful words about how he'd never love her.

It wasn't that Sam had ever expected him to say anything about loving her. She was his subordinate, and he took that seriously. Nor had she ever picked up any interest on his part, although she would have been flattered if she had.

No, it was the venom in the words that had hurt so much, like she was beneath his regard, a hated enemy, and it had stung, like a scorpion's sting, piercing her heart. 

Even after she'd realized that he had her confused with the Sam Carter of this reality, she was still trying to recover from his declarations of love for Daniel. Daniel. A man. And also one of the Colonel's subordinates, at least on their gate team. 

And he'd retired. Sam knew the Colonel had retired before, but now at this point in his career, she always thought he'd drop in the traces. But here he was, a civilian, an ambassador, a father, not once, but twice, with in-laws that he apparently liked, and a lover of men. Daniel's lover.

She watched them walk into the bedroom. They were trying not to touch in front of her and Teal'c, but their attempts were so obvious they might as well have stopped and kissed each other. 

The ramifications of this life of theirs broke her heart. She leaned toward Teal'c. "They won't want to come back, will they?" she asked softly. She didn't want to believe it.

"I do not believe so," Teal'c said somberly. He looked as troubled as she did.

The door open and a woman walked in. "Oh," she said in surprise. "Hello. I'm Claire Jackson."

"Samantha Carter," Sam said, putting out her hand. At the woman's startled glance, Sam shook her head. "A different one." Not that she expected Claire to understand.

"Are you," Claire leaned in, making sure the kids weren't paying any attention, "from the other reality?"

"Yes, we are," Teal'c intoned. "And I am Teal'c."

Claire looked even unhappier. "You're not going to take them away, are you?"

Sam and Teal'c shared a look. "We thought we'd be rescuing them," Sam confessed. "I need to sit down." All this time, all this effort, terrified that Jack and Daniel were in harm's way, and it had been for nothing. 

Mel returned with her drink. "Here," he said kindly, even as he moved next to Claire and put his arm around her, obviously sensing something had gone awry, and making it clear he was siding with his wife.

"They're from the other reality," Claire told him.

Mel looked stricken. "You're not here to take them back, are you? You can't. This world needs them. We need them."

"Our world needs them," Sam argued. "And if you know they're from a different reality, then you know Daniel's not--"

"He is," Claire objected, interrupting. "In every way that counts." 

Jack and Daniel came out of the bedroom. Daniel's eyes were a little red, and both of them looked anxious. "Sir," she said, standing up.

"Jack," Jack corrected her. 

"In my reality, you're still a Colonel," she said.

"What's going on?" Charlie said, pushing close to Jack. 

Jack looked down at him, such a look of love on his face it made Sam want to cry. What did they have to offer him to replace this? "You hungry?" Jack asked him.

Charlie looked like he wasn't sure. He pulled Jack a few feet away and whispered in a voice that was easily overheard. "What did she mean? You said you'd be my dad, right? You're staying with me, right?"

"Yeah, Charlie," Jack said clearly. "Daniel and I aren't going anywhere." He shot Sam an apologetic look. "Listen, you guys better eat without us. The four of us," indicating himself, Daniel, Sam and Teal'c, "need to talk."

Mel, Claire, and Charlie didn't look happy about that, and Charlie didn't look like he was planning on letting go of Jack anytime soon.

Sam kept hoping she'd wake up to find this had all been some anxiety dream about failing to find her teammates. Not that she didn't want them to be happy, but she wanted them to be happy where they belonged. She wanted to be a piece of that happiness, and a part of her resented that they'd found it without her.

She waited while Daniel and Jack spoke to Charlie quietly, and whatever they were saying was, while not making him happy, at least making him willing to let Jack go. Rebecca, picking up on the general anxiety in the room, started clinging to Daniel. 

"Okay," Jack said loudly. "This is what's gonna happen. Daniel and I are going to have dinner down in the hotel restaurant, because we have some things we need to discuss with Carter and Teal'c. Then, after we have dinner, Daniel and I will be back, and we can all watch some bad Egyptian TV. Okay?"

That seemed to settle Rebecca as she wandered off to the kitchen. Charlie was starting to look mutinous, so Sam spoke up. "We'll wait for you downstairs, sir, in the lobby."

Without waiting for an answer, she headed for the front door and slipped outside, not even waiting to see if Teal'c was following her. When he slipped out behind her, she stared up at him, knowing her eyes were filled with tears. "I feel like we're in the wrong reality," she said shakily. "Teal'c, what are we going to do?"

"I do not know," he said. "I, too, am confused by this state of affairs."

"Should we just take them?" she asked, as they moved down the hallway. "Would they want us to? I know they must feel as if they have responsibilities here, but they have responsibilities at home, too. Maybe they need us to take the decision out of their hands."

"I am not sure that is wise," Teal'c said.

They got in the elevator and Sam pushed the button for the lobby.

"Are you sure?" she insisted. "It can't be an easy decision to make, but surely Colonel O'Neill knows his duty. You chose to put duty over family," she pointed out. "So have I."

"A decision I have often regretted," he admitted. "Even as I see the victories we have won, they often seem hollow with no one to share them with."

"So we just leave them here?" she asked in disbelief, as the elevator doors opened. "After everything we did to get here, to get them back. We just walk away?"

"Perhaps we can suggest that they bring their children with them," Teal'c offered pragmatically. 

"They're not their children," Sam couldn't help but point out. "They look like them, but they're not. Daniel didn't even have a child in our reality, at least that we know of."

They stood in the lobby, waiting for Jack and Daniel. Sam was so full of conflicted emotions she thought she might burst. Her emotional pendulum was just swinging to anger when Jack and Daniel stepped out of the elevator.

* * *

"Hey," Jack said, wishing whatever this conversation was going to be, that it was over already. He wanted to be back upstairs with his family.

"Sir," she said tightly.

"Yeah, okay," Jack said, realizing he wasn't going to get his wish. "Let's get a drink."

They were seated immediately in a private booth, Daniel and Jack on one side, Carter and Teal'c on the other, Daniel across from Carter.

"How did you get here?" Daniel asked, putting his hand out to cover Carter's. "It really is so good to see you. We've missed you both, constantly."

"It doesn't exactly show," she said bitterly.

"So you'd have been happier if you'd found us in some labor camp?" Jack asked edgily. Not that he didn't totally understand where Carter was coming from. It had taken a while for the guilt at how much he enjoyed his life here to start fading away.

"Sam," Daniel said chidingly. "We did miss you. We've thought of you every day, thinking we'd never get to see you again. We looked for a quantum mirror, but they only let us go through the gate once. The gate's gone public here because of the attack, and it's become a political hotbed. The two of us finding a quantum mirror to go home was a very low priority to everyone but us."

Carter nodded stiffly.

The waiter appeared and took their drink orders. No one seemed inclined to order food.

Daniel wrapped his fingers around hers. "Sam, we never intended to find a life that suited us both so completely here. We've talked about it endlessly; what we'd do if the impossible happened, if you showed up. We've talked about taking our family back to your world, but they're happy here, and they wouldn't be back there."

"Back there is your world," Carter objected. "We need you there."

"Why?" Jack said. "Someone else can do what I did there."

"Someone else can help build houses here, too, sir," Carter pointed out.

"Maybe," Jack said, "but I can't have Charlie and Rebecca, and have a boat that I sail down the Nile at sunset. And I sure as hell can't have Daniel."

Daniel shot him a startled look.  


"I sort of told her when I thought she was the other Carter," Jack explained. 

"Oh," Daniel said.

"What happened to the Daniel of this reality?" Teal'c inquired.

"He died," Jack said.

Carter sent him a suspicious look.

"Hey," Jack protested. "I had nothing to do with it." 

"It's true," Daniel said. "He was crushed in a cave-in that happened after the attack."

"Although," Jack added, "I'd be perfectly willing to zat the Carter of this reality three times and do my best to talk you two into staying."

Carter looked surprised by that.

The waiter appeared with their drinks. He asked if they wanted anything else. At the terse head shakes, he left.

"Us not wanting to go back has nothing to do with you," Daniel assured her. "We just have people counting on us."

"You have people counting on you back home as well," she argued. She leaned back against the booth. "I can't believe this is happening."

"It has been a difficult time," Teal'c told them.

"If Daniel hadn't gone through the mirror," Carter pushed, "and if Charlie hadn't been alive here, would we be having this same conversation?"

"Hell, no," Jack said. "But that's not what happened. We have a family now. A family that's more important to me than anything." He stressed the word anything, knowing it was cruel, but needing her to understand. It wasn't that he didn't care about her and Teal'c, about his whole frigging world, but this was his family. He wouldn't be able to keep it intact if they went home. None of it.

"Sam, how did you get here?" Daniel asked, perplexed, changing subjects to Jack's relief. "Did you find another quantum mirror?"

"Yes," she said shortly. "It's on Thor's ship."

"Our Thor? He found a mirror?"

"No, our Thor did."

"That still doesn't explain how you got here," Daniel persisted. "You need to go through the quantum mirror on your side to get to a mirror on our side. How did you get to this reality when both quantum mirrors were in your reality?"

"Our reality," she snapped out.

Daniel conceded the point with a wave of his hand. "How?"

Carter let loose an unintelligible spate of science-techno-babble that had Jack checking out in about two seconds. When they were done, he looked at Daniel, his eyebrows up.

"Small wormhole," Daniel explained, "set with the same frequency they used to call for this Thor, so he'd find them and pick them up. They brought the second mirror with them, so there'd be one here." He turned back to Sam. "You were taking an awful chance. If Thor had been too far away, you could have died."

"For nothing, apparently," Carter said resentfully. 

Jack sighed. "I get that this sucks, Carter. It's no picnic for us, either. Trust me, we know what we're turning our backs on."

"So Thor has a quantum mirror now?" Daniel probed.

"Yes," Teal'c told him.

"So, that means we can travel between realities," Daniel pointed out.

"No way," Jack said forcefully. "I've been down that road before, and I'm not doing it again. All it takes is one psycho bitch and it all goes to hell." At Carter's look, he said, "Not that I'm thinking you're planning on going psycho," he reassured her.

She didn't look reassured.

Daniel opened his mouth.

"Eh," Jack said, interrupting him. "And no way you're going either."

Daniel sighed, but then, perking up, he turned to Carter and Teal'c. "No, but you guys can. It'll be like we got transferred to a different base or something. It takes a second to go through the mirror and Thor can beam you down here just as fast. You can come for dinner whenever you're free or the need arises. We can discuss missions and learn from each other. Maybe we can help you convince the SGC to go public with the gate." 

Jack could tell Carter wasn't buying this as she sat there stonily.

Daniel wasn't about to give up. "Please, Sam, try to understand. We want to be with you; we want to see you both, be a part of your lives, help how we can, but we can't walk away from what we have here. I know it's not fair, and I can only imagine what you've been going through, but we have children. Parents." He grabbed Jack's hand. "Each other. And I won't give that up," he said defiantly.

She looked at their clasped hands and covered her face with her hands.

"I like the idea of Thor keeping the mirror," Jack said into the silence. "That means no one can mess with it."

"If this planet is now protected by the Asgard," Teal'c said, "and the people of this planet are now aware of the Stargate and the existence of life on other planets, then is it not likely that the future of this planet is secure?"

"Maybe," Jack said unwillingly, sure he wasn't going to like wherever this was going.

Carter let her hands drop, listening.

"Whereas, on the planet of your birth, most of your people still live their lives in ignorance, little knowing the danger they are in from the Goa'uld. We are still engaged in a mighty battle with the Goa'uld in our reality, and we have need of people such as you."

Yeah, Jack didn't like it. He ran his free hand through his hair, chewed on his bottom lip for a second, and let out a sigh. "And we'll help as much as we can, from _this_ side of the quantum mirror. I'm sorry, I know it sucks, but that's the best we can offer."

"Sam, it could be a good thing," Daniel tried, picking up the thread. "We can share information on other planets, races, technology, politics."

"Weapons," Jack threw in.

Daniel rolled his eyes. 

Carter's eyes filled with tears. "I missed you so much," she said shakily, doing her best not to cry.

"We missed you, too," Daniel said passionately. 

"Not enough, though," she said sadly.

There wasn't much to say after that. They sat there in silence, sipping their drinks morosely. 

"Teal'c," Jack said, having a sudden thought.

"Yes, O'Neill."

"One planet we haven't gone to here to find allies is Chulak. Everyone's a little concerned about how we'll be received. Would you be willing to go with a team to Chulak, to talk to Bra'tac?"

"I would be pleased to do so, O'Neill," he said.

"See," Jack said. "We're helping each other already."

Carter sent him a look through narrowed eyes that showed a singular lack of respect.

"Sam," Daniel tried one more time. "We really want you to be a part of our lives. Let's find a way to make it happen. Please don't begrudge us the right to some happiness."

"And I wasn't kidding when I said I'd find a way to off the Carter of this reality," Jack offered.

"Jack," Daniel protested.

"Come on, Daniel," Jack countered, "she's drooling in some padded cell somewhere. If she was gone, Carter wouldn't have to worry about those tremor thingies when she came to visit. This Hammond would be thrilled to have a fully functioning model to help out now and then."

"We're not having anyone killed," Daniel said sternly.

"You're no fun," Jack muttered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carter biting back a grin.

"Tomorrow we'll go and talk to both Thors," Daniel suggested. "See if they're willing to hold the quantum mirrors someplace safe. Let's see if we can make this work. It won't be like it was, I know that, but maybe we can still be a part of each other's lives, and help both worlds out."

Carter at least looked like she was considering it, which felt like a victory to Jack. He swallowed the last of his drink. "Come upstairs with us now. We'll eat, you'll meet the family properly, see why we can't leave, and see why you'll want to come for dinner every Saturday night. You'll be Aunt Carter to the kids."

"Aunt Sam," she corrected him.

"See?" Jack said. "That just rolls off your tongue, doesn't it?" He didn't mention that it might take Charlie a while to warm up to her as her doppleganger had been his evil stepmother for a while.

She rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic sigh.

Daniel smiled for the first time since they'd sat down. "You'll love my mom, Sam. And Rebecca. She's incredible. And she'll love you back. I'd feel so lucky if she could know you as she was growing up. You'd be such an amazing role model for her."

Jack watched as Carter crumbled under the onslaught of Daniel's guileless words.

"Does she speak as many languages as you?" she asked teasingly.

Jack started to relax.

"Not yet," Daniel said proudly, "but she will. She already speaks Goa'uld, and you could teach her your language," he added to Teal'c. "Because the gate has gone public, there are hundreds, thousands, of scientists working on the technology that's come through from off-world. Imagine if you had that kind of manpower to help you figure out the things you're working on," he said to Sam. "The brightest minds in two universes at your disposal."

Carter was looking intrigued now. 

"Let's go up," Jack suggested. He wanted to get up there, reassure Charlie that he wasn't going anywhere.

They rose, and Jack stopped the waiter on their way out, asking him to add the tab to their room, and to give himself a nice tip. Then, the four of them, just like always, headed out together.

* * *

Late that night, Jack and Daniel fell into bed, exhausted. Carter, no Sam, Jack corrected himself, he wasn't her superior officer anymore, Sam and Teal'c were in another suite secured for them by Daniel.

"Can we make this work?" Daniel asked, one arm thrown over Jack's chest.

"If the Thors are willing," Jack said. "That way, no one could get through who had no business getting through. But," he added, "I'm not going through. I'm not taking the risk of getting separated from you and the kids. No way, no how."

Daniel nodded. "I get that, Jack, and you'll get no argument from me. I just think this could be a good thing."

It could be a good thing, Jack thought. They might not get to see Sam and Teal'c the way they used to, but at least they'd have access to each other. "At the very least, they know now."

"We made her so sad," Daniel said unhappily.

"We knew we would," Jack said. "There wasn't any way we were going to avoid that."

"I know. And you're right. At least they know now. Somehow the thought of them spending their lives looking for us seemed so terrible." Daniel let out a long sigh. "So, whatever happens, we've decided. This is our life now." He rolled toward Jack. "No regrets?"

"None," Jack said easily. "Not a damn one." He let out a silent laugh, little more than a cadenced breath. "Somehow, through some weird twist of fate, I got what I always wanted. I should probably write psycho Carter a thank you letter."

"Yeah, you could lace it with arsenic, and kill two birds with one stone," Daniel said sarcastically.

Jack considered the notion, but then got slapped in the face with a pillow. "Hey," he protested, putting up his hands to protect himself.

"I was joking," Daniel said in exasperation. "You were actually considering it."

Jack grabbed for Daniel and rolled until he was under Jack. "I can't help it if you keep coming up with all these brilliant ideas," Jack said innocently.

Daniel tried to look stern but failed terribly. "It is strange, isn't it, that something so good came from something so bad." He wrapped his arms around Jack. "And just think, we'll be able to get up in the morning and have breakfast with Sam and Teal'c."

"And we'll take it from there," Jack suggested.

"Yeah," Daniel said. "We'll take it from there."

The End. 


End file.
